Into The Lightning
by Loxodonta-Magica
Summary: What if HP left Britain after the defeat of LV? What if the defeat left him afraid of being the next Dark Lord? What if SS didn't die in the Shreiking Shack? What if they somehow ended up in the same place...the American West?
1. Chapter 1

**Into the Lightening**

**A/N**: Disclaimer-I do not own nor make any profit from this hobby of writing HP fanfic!

**Introduction**: What if Harry was so sick of the wizarding world after he defeated Voldemort that he decided to disappear? What if he had fled so that no one would see the extent of his powers and whisper that he was now destined to be the next Dark Lord? What if Severus had not really died in the Shrieking Shack, but had also left Britain to find peace and freedom? What if they ended up in the same place?

**Chapter 1**

Harry landed flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him so that it felt like an absolute impossibility that he could inhale. A puff of dirt flew into his face and he closed his eyes tightly, rolling his head to the side as another cloud of dirt rained down. Dimly, he heard shouting around him and then hands were on his shoulders. The hands didn't try to move him, but rather held him still as a voice close to his head said, "Easy there, Zag. They got old Steamer away. Just lay there until the doc can check ya out."

Harry finally sucked in a deep breath into the empty lungs, but felt the tell-tale sharp pain of broken ribs when he did so. Wincing and biting back a moan he pieced together the last few moments. He had taken a dare, a bet really, that he couldn't stay on the meanest bull in the pen for the required 8 seconds. Steamer was a rangy, black and brown short horn that had gotten his name from the way he pawed the ground and snorted whenever a human got too close to his females. In the winter, this sent clouds of steam up around his snout. The thought that this non-magical animal might beat him at last was just too irresistible.

The men around him had cat-called and goaded him, making his decision to ride the bull easy. The dusty wild feel of the animal beneath his thighs had been heady, recalling a different creature long ago, bucking and trying to kill him. That creature had felt of cold smooth scales and Harry had managed to slay it. He kept thinking his 'luck' should run out. But so far it held as true in the muggle world as in the magical one. He always seemed to survive the dares, the brawls, the reckless forays into dangerous waters.

New hands were on him now. "Zag? Hey boy! Open your eyes and let me see 'em," a harsh voice commanded.

Harry slowly forced himself to open his eyes, wincing at the new pain in his head when he did so. A light was shown into them, rough thumbs holding the eyelids open.

The light was taken away and Harry closed his eyes again, focusing on making his arms and legs obey his command to sit up. The hands held him down. "Stay still… do you have pain in your neck?"

Harry couldn't answer that, now could he, if they wouldn't let him move. He winced again when he tried to shrug his shoulders. Over his head he could hear the loud voice cursing at the men hovering around in a crowd. He knew it was the man they all called 'Doc', although the man wasn't really a doctor, but a gray man who had seen a few tours of duty as a marine medic.

"You idiots! You think it's funny to goad a man to ride a bull like Steamer when he's not much more than a greenhorn? Does the phrase reckless endangerment mean nothing to you worthless fuckers? Do you all have bullshit for brains?"

Hands picked his hands up and squeezed. "Squeeze my fingers, boy, hard as you can."

Harry obeyed and the hands went to his neck, fingers probing gently along the nape of his neck, before moving to his feet. "Get his boots off," the voice commanded.

Harry was mildly alarmed when he didn't feel the movements of his legs as the boots were removed. It felt vague and distant, like his tooth had that time he had gone to a muggle dentist. For a moment his thoughts went to Hermione, and the grief he felt at her death. He had gone to a dentist when he had a toothache, wanting to know what it was that her parents had done for a living, needing to feel some kind of connection to that family, even if it was to go to an American dentist for a root canal.

He felt the numb tug as his bare foot was raised. "Feel that, Zag?"

Harry winced again as he tried to shake his head. Another voice over his head spoke in a whisper, although it was a loud and rough whisper, "Keep your head still. Do not move your neck."

Harry agreed and stopped trying to move. Fingers pried his eyes open again and the newest voice rasped, "Left pupil is dilating. He has a concussion."

Doc spoke, "…no response to his feet. Get the neck brace…"

Harry forced his eyes open and looked up. Deep black eyes in a weathered tan face met his. He stared, his left eye watering. Vaguely, he knew he should be worried by now, but the eyes were familiar in a way that gave him a sense of peace.

He whispered, "I knew eyes like yours once… mean bastard… "Then he felt the pull of unconsciousness, as random thoughts crowded his brain. Maybe bull riding hadn't been a good dare to take. It would be about right for his luck to turn just enough for him to be paralyzed but alive. On the other hand, maybe he had finally found the one thing that he couldn't come back from. Maybe it was finally his turn for the next great adventure. Maybe he would see Sirius again, and Hermione, and Remus and Tonks… so many to see… meet his mum and dad…

Above him, shocked black eyes blinked rapidly. How in the seven depths of hell was it possible to go to all the trouble to hide so deep in the muggle world…only to end up right in Potters lap? Maybe because this _was_ one of those depths of hell?

Doc was speaking rapidly. "Come on Yank. You're supposed to know what's what. Hold his neck while I get this on him."

Doc eased the thick brace around Harry's neck, securing it with that curious material they called 'velcro'.

The other men that Doc had been cursing had brought out a long narrow board and they laid it next to Harry, alongside his body. Doc arranged his arms so that they crossed over his chest and held them while three of them rolled Harry's body as one unit so that the board was slid under him and he was laid back down on top of it. They wound thick canvas straps around and again used velcro connections to secure Harry in place.

They lifted him at the three count and Severus Prince followed behind Doc as they carried Harry up to the big ranch house.

**A/N**: My Muse will not give me peace until I post this first chapter. Your response will tell me if I should do more. I actually have it almost complete, as it was my NaNoWri Mo project for 2010. It's different, and many elements have been researched as I wrote them. I will not claim to be an expert in the cattle industry, Native American Lore, etc. I manipulated the information in as factual way as possible. In the interest of entertainment please remember that this is fiction, AU HP, and therefore I can do it like I want to! Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_**A/N:**__ So…this has been well-received thus far! Thank you for all the reviews and encouragement. A couple of clarifications/mental editing notes: Doc should not have called Severus 'Yank' as a nickname. I was mistaken in thinking it was an American slang term for Brits. Also, I have misspelled Lightning in several places… I do not mean 'lightening', which has to do with making brighter. I DO mean 'Lightning', as in the atmospheric activity! If I miss them, just ignore future misspellings. I will try to catch them!_

Doc turned a little as they strode after the stretcher. "You alright, Sev? I thought you were a little foggy there for a minute."

Severus nodded. "I'm fine. I was just… surprised." He struggled briefly with the irritation of being called 'Sev' and then shook it off.

"Surprised? At what?" Doc asked curiously.

Severus wondered how much to say. Would Harry want to acknowledge him? He would be shocked, since he would never expect to see Severus here. At the moment, Harry could believe that he had hallucinated seeing him, due to his injury. What would he say when he realized Severus was really here? '_What will he do when he knows you are alive?_' a small voice taunted him.

Finally he responded. "We knew each other a long time ago. I never thought to see him again. I am certain that he thought the same."

Doc narrowed his eyes. "Enemies? Best buddies? What?"

It was very tempting to sneer at the man for his flagrant nosiness, but Severus had worked hard to be someone who did not draw attention to himself by his actions or attitude. He worked to be unmemorable.

"Acquaintances." He did not elaborate and Doc did not press. But he could see that the man's curiosity had not been satisfied.

Severus made his way to the kitchen of the house, his mind working to decide how best to brew a healing potion for Potter without doing anything to cause suspicion. The muggles on this ranch thought him an eccentric middle aged foreigner, who happened to be an accomplished cook, and dabbled in planting herbs and making holistic concoctions for just about any malady.

He had spent a year under the care of Aberforth Dumbledore, healing and slowly regaining his strength after his very near death from Nagini's bite. Everyone thought that he had died and that an anonymous Death Eater had taken his body, probably for future nefarious uses.

His vocal cords had been permanently damaged and he found it difficult to hold extended conversations. His voice was deep, but rough instead of smooth as he spoke in a gravelly whisper. He wore high necked shirts and turtleneck sweaters to hide most of the scars that Nagini's poisonous teeth had caused. He had left England with Abe's blessings, taking on the last name Prince. Growing his hair even longer, he now wore it in one long braid, adding to the eccentric appearance.

He had learned to do some things the muggle way as he traveled, determined to leave a predominant wizarding world behind. He did not avoid using magic, but he did it only when he was certain not to be seen. He did avoid high-powered uses, as he remained paranoid that some industrious Auror would try to track down his signature since his body had never been recovered. They would search for him, even though Harry had exonerated him with Albus' pensive memories of his true allegiance. He frowned, still in confusion about why Harry had done that.

He was standing at the sink, his mind drifting in the past, when Martha came into the kitchen.

"Severus? Doc says that Zag is hurt, maybe badly. I had them put him in the front room on a single bed we made up."

Severus turned to her and saw the worry in her lined face. He liked her and her husband. They were quietly strong people, hard working and honest. He had only been here a day and he was new to all of this. He remembered the contempt he had felt for muggles in his younger years and once again felt shame. Muggles might not have the same resources that wizards had, but their technology was impressive. He had learned to use that technology to augment his use of magic. He had learned to phrase his use of herbs, plants and other ingredients in ways that were familiar to the muggles. To them he had become someone who was proficient in holistic and natural homeopathy. He had cultivated a story of having been injured badly in his native Spain and had moved to the United States to start over. Minor use of charms helped people to trust him more readily. For 7 years he had researched possible places to finally settle and make that new life a reality. Here in Montana he was sure he had found a place that was remote enough from the nearest magical communities. He had sensed some different kinds of magic in areas that housed Native American reservations. Some of his research helped him to realize that theirs was an earth magic. It was stronger in the elders of the tribes who still practiced it. The younger generations were weaker and they did not seem to subscribe to the practices of the older generations. Their blood was not as pure and the levels of magic seemed to be dwindling as they married outside the tribes. The remembrances of pure-blood bigotry had reared itself and he could easily see that the magic would be totally gone, with only the legends remaining, in another few generations. The temptation to sneer and inform them of their folly was great. But what would it have accomplished, except to possibly be the catalyst to a civil war such as Great Britain had seen in its' wizarding communities.

Coming back to the here and now he looked at Martha. "How long has he been here?" he asked.

"Oh, 6 months or so. He seems a quick learner for someone who had absolutely no ranch experience. At least, I thought he was smart, until he let himself be talked into jumping up on Steamer." She gave a derisive snort but her heart was not in it.

Severus gave an inaudible snort of his own. When had Potter ever been smart? Brave, certainly. Painfully bent on giving his all at whatever the cost, but smart? Not that Gryffindor.

He decided that he would rather their prior relationship not come as a surprise to his employer. He liked this job so far and he wanted the advantage of being on Martha's good side if it came down to one of them having to leave. Old Slytherin sensibilities of self-preservation had him pouring himself a cup of the coffee that never seemed to run out before he sat down at the kitchen table.

"I knew him several years ago," he began. At Martha's open mouthed look of question he continued. "We never really got along. I doubt that things will change between us. Likely, he will try to…" What would Harry do when he realized that he was alive and here?

Martha's husband, Neal, came into the kitchen, interrupting his response. "Doc asks if you can come and have another look. We called the closest hospital and they said the helicopter is away on another transport. It will be too dangerous to move him over these rough roads if he has a spinal injury."

They had only known Severus these few days since he had interviewed for the position of ranch medic/cook/manager, but they already appeared to trust his judgment about many things. The headache and arthritis tea he had made for them as they sat and discussed his employment had been enormously successful and had gone a long way to quickly securing their trust. The fact that he had also thrown together a delicious pot of stew last night appeared to make him popular with the ranch hands.

Severus followed Neal to the front room where Doc sat in a chair beside the small single bed. Harry was still secured to the board. A bruise was rising up on the side of his face where he had caught a glancing blow from a hoof. Severus spent a few moments trying to gather himself before he neared the bed.

Doc was again measuring the reflexes of the injured man. He held both of Harry's hands in his, leaning close to Harry's face.

"Zag! Black! Come on, son, squeeze my hands." He demanded sharply.

Severus stopped the steps he had started towards the bed. Black? It had not occurred to him that Harry would have changed his name, but of course he would have. He had realized afterwards, while he was in Abe's care, how much Harry had hated all the publicity. All the photos of him showed a pained expression and a quick turning away as soon as he realized the reporter had taken his picture. Interview answers were curt, and had smacked of a sneer learned from the time he had spent under Snape's own sneering commentaries. The Prophet had hounded him relentlessly until one day they had reported that he was leaving his engagement to Ginevra Weasley and had disappeared from wizarding Britain. Speculations were frantic. The Weasleys had all refused to comment on either the broken engagement or Potter's disappearance.

At the time, Severus had not spent any energy wondering where the brat had gone. To find him here had been a shock. He had changed his own last name to avoid detection, so it shouldn't have been so shocking that Harry had changed his. Why didn't he use the name Harry? What kind of asinine name was 'Zag'? Why had he not chosen his mother's maiden name?

He was irritated to realize that he had spent several long moments in these thoughts and now everyone was staring at him. He shook himself and made a face as if he was giving the man on the bed a critical visual exam.

Doc sat back and stood up. "He squeezes my hands if I yell at him. He doesn't move his feet if I tell him to, but he jerks a little when I poke him with a pin." He looked at Martha and Neal. "I guess they told you the helicopter is tied up. Whatever we do here we have to be careful not to make it worse."

Severus sat down in the vacated chair and Doc handed him the flashlight that he had just used to check Harry's pupils.

He drew a finger gently along the purpling bruise, probing for a possible fracture there around the eye. Now that he knew it was there, the famous scar was obvious under the dirt and blood. The bones shifted under his touch and Severus switched the flashlight on before gently raising the eyelids with his thumbs. The pupil on the left side was larger, but not any more than what it had been outside. A tear leaked down the side of Harry's face from that eye and Severus wiped it away absently.

He did not want them to take him to a muggle hospital. There was no telling how their treatments would affect his magical core. He wished he could draw his wand and make a better assessment, but he could not with all these witnesses around him. He was pondering just what to do next when Harry groaned.

"Doc… no hospitals… you promised…" came the whispered request.

Doc gently pushed Severus aside and bent down, taking the hand that was reaching up to him. "Now, Zag, don't go making me keep that promise. You're hurt bad, boy. We need to get you seen to."

"No… promise me…"

Severus laid a hand on Doc's shoulder. "He asked you not to take him to a hospital?"

Doc nodded. He had laid another hand on Harry's forehead, unconsciously tracing the lightening bolt scar with a thumb. "He got hurt awhile back in the pens. I thought sure he had broken an arm. But he went to his rooms and wrapped it in a sling. Said he had rubbed some kind of ointment into it and it was only a sprain. I just knew it was broke and I kept telling him I'd drive him to the hospital when he came to his senses. In a day or two he was right as rain. His arm was a little stiff, but he was right. It hadn't been broken at all." He turned and looked up at Severus. He told me that day that he had a phobia about hospitals and he didn't ever want to go to one. He said he had a bunch of herbal stuff, like you and I make, you know? That's all he ever uses when he gets hurt." He looked back down at Harry. "But I think he'll have to go this time."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "Perhaps not. You said that his feet responded when you tested them?"

Doc nodded. "Yeah, but that just means we have the break stabilized for now. If we move him the wrong way we could paralyze him."

On the bed, Harry moaned again. His whisper was more urgent this time. "No! No hospital… just need some time…"

Severus' shoulders lifted in a deep breath as he looked down at Harry. The injured man's eyes were closed, the bruise welling larger, his mouth barely able to open when he whispered, due to the neck brace wrapped tightly around his throat. He wished there was a way to have two minutes alone with him, so that he could cast a diagnostic as well as a few healing spells.

Doc had taken Harry's hand again, feeling for the pulse in his wrist. He sighed. "Well, I guess it's no use thinking on moving him just yet, since there's no helicopter. We'll give it that long before we make a decision."

Harry moaned again, "No helicopter… hate flying… no hospital…"

Severus had to give Harry some credit. He was trying to do anything in his power to avoid the muggle hospital. Harry loved to fly and it probably didn't matter whether it was by broom or helicopter.

Doc looked around at Severus. "Can you sit here for a bit? I'll go get my gear so I can check him out better." He looked at Martha. "Let's get some compresses ready for his head. This bruise is turning nasty."

Just like that the room was empty of everyone but Severus and Harry, as Neil went to help Martha and Doc went to wherever he had the gear he was talking about.

Severus lost no time taking his wand from his sleeve and casting the diagnostic spell, followed by a general healing spell that would stop further bleeding and swelling into the tissues.

The diagnostic appeared in a filmy wave over Harry and Severus read it quickly before dispersing it. He cast another spell to stabilize the fractures in Harry's face and the ones in his lumbar and cervical spine.

He bent to straighten the light blanket covering Harry just as Martha and Neil came back into the room. Martha had a large bowl in her hands, filled with steaming water. Neil had a stack of cheese cloth squares that he set down beside the bowl. In another few moments Doc had returned with a large plastic covered tub. He opened it and Severus could instantly smell an array of herbs.

He watched for a few moments as Doc sorted through the tub, gathering pinches of different ones and laying them on the cheese cloth. When he was about to fold the cloth over, Severus stepped up.

Pointing to a few other herbs, he said, "Those are useful, as well."

Doc only looked at him for a moment before nodding and adding the ones Severus indicated. The folded cloth packet was immersed in the steaming water, gently squeezed out and the laid on Harry's face, covering the left eye and cheek.

Doc repeated the process, having Neil and Severus turn Harry so that the packs could be placed under his back. They were very careful to keep Harry's spine from twisting as they moved him. Severus was glad that he had stabilized the fractures, but he was still just as careful.

They could tell that Harry was unconscious by the time they finished. Doc assessed his pulse and watched him breathe for a few minutes. The he sat back with a deep sigh. "I guess we've done what we can for now. But I still say he needs to be transported to the hospital ASAP."

Severus looked at him. A sap? What the hell did that mean? He decided to ignore it and asked instead, "You call him Zag?"

Neil nodded. "I think he said his name was Harry or something like that. One of the hands ribbed him about it being a 'pansy name to go with his pansy accent'. Another one noticed that scar on his forehead, and called him zig-zag. The others took the 'zag' as his new handle and it stuck."

Martha had come back into the little room and she spoke up. "Mr. Prince says the two of them know each other… and maybe Zag won't take kindly to him being here."

The other men looked at Severus curiously. Severus sneered inwardly. "I never said that." he rasped.

"I could tell by your face. You two didn't get along. I haven't known Zag very long, but he's pretty easy going. There must have been some bad blood between you, if you had a look like the one you had."

It deeply irked Severus that the woman had seen that much in such a brief time. A muggle woman at that. He had certainly let his guard down. It was a lesson to be learned; even among muggles he had to keep up the masks and shields. There was too much that could not be explained. Now he looked at them all, the mask slipping into the cold stoniness of many yester years of practice.

"We were associates. We had some common goals that we accomplished differently. There were misunderstandings that could not be overcome." He left it at that, even seeing that they wanted more information, more details that he was unwilling to give. Let Potter, no, _Black_, explain it to them later, if he wanted to.

He looked down at the man on the bed who was currently oblivious to his problems. Damn it! Why did their paths have to cross again, anyway? Why would the Fates be so cruel as to throw them face to face again? Perhaps their sense of humor was skewed… Well… what was done was done. He was here, and at least for now he was once again thrown into a position of protecting Potter…_no_, _Black_.

He did not look at any of the muggles in the room before he turned and walked back to his own small room next to the kitchen. He would wait until they had left him alone before checking him again. He wanted a longer magical assessment. The first had not been enough. Some things besides his injuries were off, but he hadn't had time to study the readings. He only knew that now that they had been linked together, he could not allow the ranch muggles to send him to a hospital. That would definitely open up questions that neither of them could or would answer.

_**A/N**__: I have been asked if I will be updating other stories. Yes. When Miss Muse decides to grace me with her presence regarding Haja, I will update!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Severus got up in the early morning hours and walked silently back to the front room. Neil was dozing in the chair beside the bed, his chin on his chest. An occasional rough snore rumbled from his open mouth. Severus cast a _somnolence_ spell before stepping closer to Potter, no, _Black'_s, bedside. The electric night light cast shadows across the bruised face, making it appear more swollen and bruised. But he could see that it was already less than what it had been a few hours before. He raised an eyebrow. The simple spells and the poultices should not have worked so quickly.

He cast a silencing spell on the door of the room before casting an in-depth diagnostic over the injured man. Severus could not help the in-drawn breath of surprise as he studied it. He was contemplating the readings when he heard the sigh and then a soft moan of discomfort. Lowering his eyes to Black he waited until the eyes opened. The bottle green eyes that he remembered stared at the ceiling for several moments before they shifted to see him seeing there. Their gazes locked in silence for a few moments before Black mumbled.

"Yea… next great adventure… my stupid luck that a git that looks like Snape is here… either that or the head injury was worse than I thought…"

Snape rasped, "You have a major concussion. It is rapidly resolving, however, so I doubt they will realize how severe it was before it is apparent to them it was a minor injury after all."

Black chuckled and winced at the movement, eyes closing. "Yep… he even talks like Snape even if he doesn't sound like him… he'll probably start lecturing soon…"

Severus leaned over him and said, "Open your eyes Potter. Look at me."

The green eyes shot open again, widening at those last three words. Their eyes locked again and a torrent of thoughts passed between them; memories, events, and more thoughts. More than Severus was willing to share were being pulled from his mind and it took a huge effort for him to break the contact and turn away from the bed. He rubbed his temple, the piercing pain turning into a throb as he stood with his back to the bed.

"I saw you die… your blood… I was sliding in your blood and I _saw_ you die!" The near hysteria made Severus turn towards the other man again. Potter, no, _Black_, was breathing hard, staring at him.

Severus sighed. He pulled the neck of his shirt aside and Black's eyes moved to the scars on the exposed throat. "Aberforth got to me before the Death Eaters or the Ministry."

Black whispered, "It was Abe… I was afraid the Death Eaters had gotten you when your body was gone. `But he took you… cared for you… thank the gods…" His eyes closed in relief as his breathing gradually slowed down.

Severus wondered at that last sentiment before Black continued, "I was afraid for you… Ginny got so tired of it… said I was obsessed…." Black's eyes opened and he frowned. "She tried to be supportive, but how long could she be patient when I was worrying about a dead man? …said she couldn't compete with you…"

Severus felt a flash of irritation at the girl and then at himself for feeling the irritation. With visible effort Black looked up at him again. "Maybe I'm hallucinating… wanting to see you again so much has made you be here… never got to thank you… never got to say…." His distress at what he was suddenly dealing with was clear in the emotional voice.

Severus reached down and smoothed his fingers over Black's head. "Sleep. You need rest. I'll make a better potion before everyone wakes up." He blinked as Black tilted his head as much as the neck brace would allow, leaning into his touch.

"…missed you more than anyone else…" and then he was asleep again, leaving Severus to ponder his words.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Severus had brewed a powerful healing and pain potion, laced with some of the few rare magical ingredients he carried in his pack. By the time the others entered the kitchen he had cleaned up the portable caldron and put it back in his room and was ready to lay breakfast on the table. Neil came out of Black's room yawning. Doc went in to check out Black's condition. Severus followed after grabbing the cup of potion he had set aside.

Doc was checking pulse and respirations. "Zag. Wake up, boy and let me see your eyes."

Potter, no, _Black_, readily woke up, blinking his eyes with sudden alertness. Doc flashed his penlight into the green eyes then sat back. "Your pupils are equal and reactive. I woulda bet you would have been the same or worse this morning, kid."

Black looked past Doc and set his gaze on Severus. Before he could say anything, Severus spoke up.

"I took the liberty of making a … homeopathic tea for Black. If he feels up to drinking it, of course."

The green eyes narrowed a bit and Doc said, "Thanks Severus. Why don't you check him out while I check his reflexes. Then we'll call and see if the helicopter is available yet."

"I told you, Doc. No helicopter. No hospital. I'll be fine," Black rushed to argue.

"You're not fine, Zag. You took a bad spill off Steamer. I think you have a fractured back."

"Check my legs again. I can feel them now."

Doc looked dubious at his claim, but pulled the covers back from his legs. "Wiggle your toes."

Black obeyed, then went further to move both legs, lifting them up off the bed before Doc could ask him to try. "Get this thing off my neck, Doc. I don't need it." He reached for the brace holding him immobile and Doc swatted his hands away.

"Not yet, boy. It don't mean you aren't hurt, just that we done a good job not hurting you more when we moved you. There's no way to tell without x-rays. That means the hospital."

Black shook his head and Severus could see the panic he tried to hide. Stepping forward he sat down in a chair on the other side of the bed. "If I might offer a suggestion?"

Both men nodded. Severus looked at Black, his eyes unreadable, his expression neutral. "Let him rest awhile longer. He seems to have been bruised, certainly. No doubt the concussion was not as severe as we feared. You have mentioned that he seems to heal rapidly and perhaps that will be the case here."

Doc blustered, "And what happens when we delay getting him help even longer and he winds up being paralyzed? What then? Are you both crazy that you'd take that chance?"

Black put a hand on the old man's arm. "I think I just had the wind knocked out of me, Doc. Really…I feel much better this morning. Tomorrow I'll be fine again. I bet that tea Severus made will do the trick."

Doc looked between them, his eyes moving back and forth as he tried to read their expressions. "I got the impression that Sev here thought you'd be upset and wouldn't like to find him here."

Black looked up at Severus before he said, "I didn't say I liked it. I said his tea would do the trick. There's no love lost between us, Doc, but I knew him well enough to trust whatever he cooks up. If he wanted to hurt me he had plenty of opportunity in the past to do it."

Severus nodded and Doc sighed again. "Okay. You guys win this round. But Zag?" He bent to get his face closer to Black's, pointing a finger at him, "If you ain't up walking by tomorrow, you are going to the hospital, even if we have to get you there in the truck."

Black held up his hand to Doc and Doc grasped it firmly. "Deal, Doc."

They looked at Severus expectantly and he brought the cup over. Doc gently helped Black raise his head high enough to drink. Black grimaced as he swallowed. When it was done he commented, "Just as delicious as always. Good to see some things don't change."

"You know very well that the addition of flavor enhancing ingredients could change the efficacy-"

Black closed his eyes and waved his hand in dismissal. "Shut up already. I remember." He missed the irritation burning in the black eyes at being so dismissed. "I think I'll sleep some more if you two are through poking at me."

"No one's poked you yet. We still need to examine you a bit more. Then you can accuse us of poking at you." Doc's voice was gruff, but Severus could tell that the man was talking to Black as if he were a recalcitrant son.

Black sighed, but kept his eyes closed as the two men went about testing his reflexes and prodding the bruises on his ribs and head. Severus did his part at assessing, silently and unobtrusively casting to determine Black's magical energy levels. He had to go by feel rather than letting the report appear as a vaporous message, but he wanted to be sure he had read the report correctly the night before. Black's levels were off any scale he had seen in a long time. They were much stronger than he ever remembered Potter's being. In fact, if he was not mistaken, they were stronger even than those he had felt when in the presence of the Dark Lord. _Voldemort_ he chastised himself. Abe had ridden him relentlessly during his healing until he started calling the defeated wizard by the name Voldemort without flinching. He called it part of the recovery therapy to be able to face fearlessly that which had very nearly destroyed him.

Doc leaned back when they were done. "You have the damnedest luck of anyone I've ever seen. I thought your skull was fractured and I was sure some ribs were broken. Now I just feel the slight swelling and see some ugly bruising."

Severus said nothing, knowing that the old man had been correct in his first assessments. Black had healed already in a way that had nothing to do with what little spell work or potion that Severus had provided. The spontaneous and rapid reknitting of broken bones without the use of Skelegrow, and the resolving of the bleeding tissues was as surprising to him as it was to the Doc, who had no idea of the magic involved. It should have taken days for even a wizard to make the kind of progress Black had made overnight.

Black had no comment from his reclined position. It appeared that he had already dropped off to sleep.

Doc stood up and turned to Severus. "Have you ever seen anything like this? What do you make of it?"

Severus was silent for a long moment. Then he spoke slowly, "As you say, he seems to have extraordinary luck. But perhaps his injuries seemed worse in the heat of the moment. I tend to believe that he will be as he claims. Tomorrow he will be up and about." He looked down at Black, knowing he was likely listening. "But I would hope that this has taught him a lesson about engaging in such foolish activities."

There was a slight twitch of Black's lips but he did not open his eyes. It occurred to Severus that Black had not been wearing glasses and seemed as if he could see without them. He wondered if other spontaneous healing had taken care of his atrocious eyesight or if Black had sought out muggle means of correction. He had always wondered why Albus had not taken the younger boy for the corrective surgery. He had attempted several healing potions over the years, slipping them into Potter's, no, _Black's_, drinking goblet. They had been tasteless and undetectable and had obviously been ineffective. Albus had told him to stop. The vision problems were a combination of inherited trait from James, constant malnutrition during the younger years with the Dursley's, and injuries received from the blows to the head that Vernon Dursley had been fond of. Even with Severus's dislike of the boy, he had been enraged about the treatment he had gotten while in the Dursley's care. He was uncertain if that rage was due to more the mistreatment of any child, or if it was rage bourn of burst assumptions about the life Potter had led. He had been certain that the boy had been pampered and spoiled and it was infuriating to find evidence of the exact opposite during their grueling Occlumency training.

Doc was repacking his stethoscope and penlight and now he stood up and faced Severus again.

"I hope they left some of that breakfast you made." He left and Severus looked back down at Black. The green eyes were open and looking up at him.

"I remember thinking you were a dream or a hallucination. But Doc was talking to you, too." He paused before saying quietly, "I'll stay out of your way if you stay out of mine. The ranch isn't as big as Hogwarts, but there's enough open space we should be able to avoid each other. Thanks for the potion." His eyes closed again and Severus again felt the irritation of being dismissed.

He turned and walked back into the kitchen, closing the door softly.

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! I have to tell you that I am working without a beta here, as it seems easier that way. Any mistakes are all mine. I'm on Spring Break right now so I hope to upload a chapter a day for a few more days. Happy St. Patrick's day!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Severus had been assigned to alternate the days he cooked for the ranch hands and the days he cooked for the house. He was stirring the huge pot of beef stew in the open air kitchen near the bunkhouse when Black emerged from the house and headed towards the bunkhouse. He had his head down and was walking slowly in a gait Severus recognized as one testing out the body's abilities. He watched with narrowed eyes as Black gingerly twisted his back as he walked, then rolled his head around, lifting his shoulders. He caught Severus's gaze and halted momentarily before striding faster to the bunkhouse and disappearing inside.

Severus continued to stir the pot as he remembered the sight of the man sitting astride the 1 ton bucking and twisting animal…

He had been walking the ranch buildings with the man called Doc, learning his way around the place he would be living and working in. They had just exited the bunkhouse and were standing in the open air pavilion where a gigantic free-standing fireplace stood alongside a huge oven and cooktop. The shouts from the corral had them listening and then Doc took off towards the sounds, cursing loudly.

Severus had followed, able to see that beyond the men lining the fence a bull was being ridden by a man who had one hand up in the air and the other gripping a kind of harness wrapped around the animal's girth. The bull was leaping and trying to throw his head in a way to attack the human on him with his sharp horns. A loud buzzer sounded just as the man was thrown violently to the ground in a cloud of dirt and dust. A couple of the ranch hands jumped down from the fence and narrowly avoided the still leaping bull as they lured it away from the fallen man. Another knelt down at the man's head and gently held him in place. Doc had quickly climbed the fence and was running towards them. Severus followed, interested to see this bit of life on a working ranch. He could not see the value in an entertainment that was so obviously dangerous. Doc was speaking insistently to the man to keep still, even as he examined him for injuries. Then Doc was suddenly ranting at all the onlookers, swearing at them for their stupidity in having goaded the man into riding the bull he called Steamer. Most of the men looked ashamed, but Severus noted the one or two that were smirking.

Doc had motioned him over and Severus knelt there in the dirt at the man's head while Doc continued his examination. The boots were gently pulled off and Doc was pressing the point of an inkpen into the sole of one foot. The man's name was apparently Zag, and Doc asked if he could feel the pen. Severus held his head still when he tried to shake it. He looked down into the dirty and bloodied face.

"Keep your head still. Do not move your neck," he urged. The man stopped his attempts to move and Severus quickly made his own assessment by gently prying the man's eyes open one at a time and checking his pupils. The left one was dilating, meaning there was likely a concussion from the blows to the head in the fall, or the flying hoof that had caught the side of his forehead.

Doc called for a neckbrace and the man on the ground slowly opened both eyes to look up at Severus dazedly. Even dulled with pain and disorientation Severus recognized the green eyes that dazed up at him. They seemed to hold steady for a few moments and the man even seemed to relax a bit under his hands as he whispered, "I knew eyes like yours once… mean bastard…" Then the eyes glazed even more before closing into unconsciousness. Severus silently cursed the fates for placing him squarely into the vicinity of Harry Bloody Potter…

Awhile later Black emerged from the bunkhouse looking freshly showered and dressed to go back to work. As he passed Severus on the way to the corrals Severus spoke, "Is it wise to go back out there so quickly?"

Black hesitated briefly, not looking at him, before continuing without answering. Severus noticed that Neil and Doc were also watching Black closely through the day's business of wrangling calves to brand and castrate. Black ignored the questions of the other ranch hands and the comments from one that he had taken a comfy break from the harder beds they all had in the bunkhouse. He worked as hard as the rest of them and Severus thought he was the only one to see the times he rubbed a tired hand across his left temple. He was the last to sit down at the long tables for the big late afternoon meal that Severus had prepared. He kept his head down as he ate slowly in what Severus recognized as extreme fatigue.

Doc came to stand next to Severus and murmured, "You have anymore of that tea you made him yesterday? Stupid kid's gonna kill himself proving he's alright."

Severus nodded, glad that Doc had asked and given him the opportunity to hand Black a cup of tea he added the potion to. Black accepted it wordlessly, barely grimacing at the taste. He looked up in a few minutes, nodding briefly at Severus to acknowledge his thanks. He moved more surely when he left the table to follow the rest of the men back out to finish gathering the calves for the next day's work before releasing the ones they had worked on this day.

Severus watched as the calves seemed to gravitate towards him instead of shying away like they did with the other men. Black stroked the calves on the nose, petting them, and they would nose towards him like a favorite dog, before running along after the others being penned in a smaller pen next to their mothers.

The air was filled with their bawling and the cows calling back to their separated babies. Black was the last one to leave the calves. Severus sat down in large wooden chair and leaned back, resting his feet on a railing at the outdoor kitchen site. He watched Black stand at the corral fence, leaning over on his elbows, reaching down occasionally to scratch a calf that was standing there. Severus thought he saw Black's lips moving as if he was talking to the calf.

Doc and Neil dragged some more chairs up and Neil lit a pipe. Doc was watching Black closely.

"Guess he made it through the day alright. Looks like he'll get his way about not going to the hospital."

Neil added, "The hospital called earlier. I told them it was a lot less serious than we had thought. They were glad to hear it, but the doctor there says we should bring him in for a checkup anyway. Think he'll go for it?"

Doc snorted. Neil just nodded. Severus sat with the men, contemplating the way they seemed to have adopted Potter, no, _Black_. They didn't carry on this way about any of the other ranch hands.

"How long has he been here?" he asked curiously.

Neil propped his own feet up on the railing, settling more comfortably into his chair. "Now that's a story. He came walking up to the ranch about 6 months ago, right at the end of the fall. It was still hot as blazes and he looked like had only been walking an hour or so, instead of all the way from Cheyenne."

Doc chuckled, shaking his head. "Yep, he was as green as he could be. Said he wanted to learn how to be an American cowboy. We get those sometimes, guys who have seen one too many movies. We humoured him for a bit until it was obvious he wouldn't take no for an answer."

Neil continued, "The other boys laughed at his name and his accent, but they stopped laughing after he put in full days work without complaining. We figured that would fix his need to be a cowboy and he'd leave. But he stayed. What he didn't know he's picked up from watching. He never even asked if he would get paid and seemed surprised when Martha handed him his first pay check."

He pulled deeply on the pipe, exhaling a bluish cloud out over the rail before continuing. "One of the guys saw his scar and jokingly called him 'Zig-Zag'. He just shrugged it off and didn't seem to mind when they all shortened it to Zag. Matter of fact… he never seems to get too bothered about the teasing the guys have done. Just takes it all in stride. He only gets short-tempered when he's been drinking, or when Josh gets him riled. In fact, I can't believe he hasn't had words with Josh about daring him to ride Steamer. It's a pretty good bet that he was the one who goaded him into it."

Severus turned his head, silently staring at the man, mentally prodding him to continue. Potter, no, _Black_, had never seemed to be the type to drown his troubles in drink. Gryffindors faced their troubles head on. This Josh fellow seemed to be a counterpart to the Slytherins, if he was able to get Potter, no, _Black_, to go into 'hero mode'.

Neil and Doc seemed to be content in the silence as they watched Black at the fence. Severus turned back in time to see the calf thrust its head through the rungs of the fence in a bid to get closer to the man. Harry knelt down with a smile and took the calf's head in his hands. He was still looking as if he was talking to the animal. Another ranch hand walked by and must have said something rude, because Harry glared up at him, eyes blazing briefly before he chose to ignore the other man. Severus thought that maybe that was the man named Josh.

"He beats all I've ever seen," Doc commented. "Said he'd never ridden a horse, but took to it right away. Talks to all the animals like they understand him, and damned if they don't seem to act like they do."

The calf raised its head when there was a loud calling from the cow pen. It pulled its head back through the fence and ambled off in that direction. Harry stood back up, the motion slow and controlled as he moved to lean on the fence. He rested his chin on his forearms for a few minutes, gazing out over the pens. Finally, he stood up straighter and turned to the bunkhouse. He walked without any regard for the three men who were watching him, but Severus knew that he was aware that he was being observed. His walk was a little bit too carefully casual. All of his observation experience and the knowledge of how Potter worked came back in an instant and Severus could tell that the man was not feeling as well as he pretended.

Apparently Doc saw the same thing and he commented, "If we can't get him to town, we should make sure he gets more of that tea you made. I'll get him some of the liniment I make. He looks pretty sore."

They remained on the porch as it grew into dusk and then the dark. Somewhere inside the bunkhouse came the sound of music being turned up loud. Neil cursed softly under his breath. "Dang kids…they don't know how to enjoy the sounds of the real world. I hate that damn stuff they call music. Screechin' is more like it. Not much different than we hear when we're branding cattle. I have to ride out a good two miles just to hear the crickets." He tapped the pipe out to empty it over the rail as he stood up. "You two get that tea and liniment for that boy so he can sleep good. I'm going in and shut my windows so I can't hear that racket…" His voice trailed off as he headed to the main house.

Severus had to agree with his thoughts on the music. Ever since he had entered the muggle world he had found little that appealed to him. Like Neil, he preferred the sounds that one heard from the land. Doc sighed and leaned forward in his chair. He looked over at Severus, eyes sharp.

"I can see that you are a man who keeps his own council. You don't say it, but I think there is more to the past between you and the boy. I like you both so I hope it don't cause no trouble. He has something troubling him. I don't know what." He looked back towards the bunkhouse where there was laughter amidst the music. "He don't mix much with them fellows. They leave him alone for the most part, 'cause he pulls his weight in the pens and on the range. Sometimes Josh pushes a little too far and he seems to lose his common sense, like taking the dare to ride Steamer. Josh and a pal got into a brawl with him one night. It was over before Neil and I could get out there. For a short guy he did more damage than you'd think he could. He came out a little bloody but both of the others were worse off by far." He looked back at Severus. "Strangest thing, though? None of the others could say what had happened exactly. It was like somebody had hit 'em all with a stupid stick."

Severus looked back at him, his expression closed of reaction. He wanted to smirk at the man's way of speaking. A 'stupid stick' was indeed a crude way of saying that they had likely been confunded. Not that Doc had any idea of that. He was just stating how things had appeared. Instead, he stood up and stretched. Leaning on the railing he finally responded. "Mr. Black always was an enigma. I'm certain time hasn't changed that."

Doc seemed to consider those words carefully before he asked, "What was it ya'll were doing when you knew each other?"

Severus had known that the question was inevitable, now that they knew that he and Harry had known each other previously. But how to answer the direct question… how to answer so that any possible questions and answers directed at Harry would fit with his…

His voice was even deeper and raspier than usual as he began his explanation. "There was a small civil war of sorts. Not many would have heard of it as it was not well-publicized. There was a man who would have liked to have taken over everything. He was heartless and cruel and his followers followed in him in a misguided sense of sharing his power." Severus paused for a few moments before continuing. "Mr. Black and I were on the same side, opposing this man, but we often did not see eye to eye."

Doc said, "Seemed to me he was surprised you were alive."

Severus hesitated for a few moments before he turned to Doc in the weak light coming through the window behind them. He pulled his high collar aside to bare the horrendous scars on his throat. Doc whistled a started indrawn breath. Severus rebuttoned the collar before saying, "He was there when this happened. He thought that I had died as a result. There was no reason for me to think that he cared enough to find out otherwise, and in any case, my recovery was long and strenuous."

Doc was staring at his covered throat and finally looked away. "Funny, you two winding up in the same place, ain't it?"

Severus snorted. "Cursed is more like it."

Doc chuckled and then took a deep breath. "Well, I think I'll be heading to bed myself, after I take that liniment to Zag." He headed off the porch towards his own quarters and Severus watched him until he disappeared.

Only sheer luck kept him from drawing his hidden wand when Harry's voice startled him from beyond the edge of the porch. "Nice story. I was wondering how you were going to explain how we knew each other." He walked into the weak light and Severus saw that he was watching in the direction Doc had gone. "He's a good man."

Severus didn't respond to that, but rather observed Harry as he stood there. Even in the bad lighting his face was pale and drawn. When Harry sat down in the chair Severus had vacated and closed his eyes Severus said, "I was about to go brew you some more tea. Doc went to get you some sort of liniment."

Harry sighed. "His liniment is surprisingly good. If you tweaked it a bit it would be great."

Severus accepted the compliment in silence. Doc came back across the way before he could think of anything to say that did not sound like his former snarky self. "Hey, Zag. Looks like I don't have to hunt you down to give you this.' He handed a small bottle to Harry. When no one said anything, he cleared his throat. "Well, I best be getting to bed. It'll be an early day tomorrow."

Severus looked at him in question and Doc explained, "Neil's taking a group up into the hills to round up the strays. I go along in case anyone gets hurt. We'll be gone a few days."

Harry stood up, hiding a wave of dizziness by leaning on the railing. He hadn't fooled either man, though and Severus was glad it was Doc that quickly rounded on the younger man. "Don't you be thinkin' you're going with us either, Zag. You ain't healed up yet and the trip will be rough. There's plenty to do around here to get ready for us to return."

Harry sat back down before nodding his reluctant agreement. Doc looked at Severus and added, "I suppose you two can get on well enough if you try. Martha isn't as forgiving of brawling as Neil is, so you better. You keep an eye on him," he said, jerking his head toward Harry. "You keep an eye on him and get him to the hospital if he takes a turn for the worse."

His rules made clear, he nodded another good-night to them both and strode back to his quarters.

Severus stood there for a few moments before he sat down in the chair that Doc had occupied earlier. The music in the bunkhouse was switched off and Severus heard Harry breathe a sigh of relief. If Severus had expected him to begin rambling about the past, lamenting his presence in the present, or angsting over the future, he would be disappointed. The silence between them spoke more than words could have said as both of them relaxed into it. Just being in the presence of another magical being was somehow refreshing. It hummed between them, tentative but familiar. For once, neither had to be careful about what that feeling was like. Neither would admit to missing it, at least not yet, but both of them soaked it in.

When Harry finally got up, Severus spoke, "I will prepare your tea-"

"No." Harry interrupted. "I'll be okay tonight. I'll get it in the morning. Like Doc said, that comes soon enough." He drifted into the deeper darkness and was gone before Severus could insist.

_**A/N**__: Thank you for the reviews! They have been very welcome! Some of you have figured out pieces to the plot and others are getting there…_

_Remember, I am writing for entertainment and not as an expert on the workings of a ranch. I will give some explanations in my notes when I think it might help those of you not at all familiar with the cattle industry. My own personal experience is limited to helping tattoo the ear of a heifer once, and watching my niece and nephew raise and show steers at the fair. Did you know that the nose prints of cattle are as distinctive as our fingerprints? That's my trivia for the day!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Severus was up early, helping the ranch hands prepare their breakfast and the food they would travel with. A shrinking charm would have been beneficial and he sighed when he had to help make all the goods fit inside the thing they called a 'chuck wagon' without the use of magic. The cowboys chosen to accompany Neil were excited and noisy while the others helping them to get ready were more subdued as if they felt less a part of the adventure.

Finally, everything was done and Neil had everyone out in the yard. They all quieted as he mounted his own horse and signaled for them to settle down. He looked out over the dozen men and motioned for the men who were going to mount up. When they had, he held up his hand again.

"I want you all to know that you are each one an important part of this ranch. The men chosen to go today aren't any more important than those who are staying here. You might note that I picked people who don't normally work side by side. That means the ones that stay are in the same situation. I mean for all of you to learn to work together and not with just a few doing the same jobs over and over. A great ranch hand and a great cowboy can do whatever is needed. Those that are going will be getting experience with rounding up cattle in rough terrain. They will be sleepin' outside on the ground and I hope you all remembered to bring your long johns and rain gear. It will be cold in the mountains and we'll likely see some downpours before we're back."

A couple of the mounted ranch hands quickly dismounted and ran for the bunkhouse. Neil rolled his eyes, knowing they had forgotten that crucial equipment. He looked at the half dozen men who were scuffing their feet in the dirt and looking longingly at the men on their horses. "You men staying here… I expect everything to be ready to go when we return. There's lots of gear that needs cleaning and repair. That don't sound too glamorous or exciting, but it's a vital part of the working of a ranch. I need an inventory taken of what needs to be replaced. Winter is coming up quick in this part of the country. We need to have enough feed, hay, and cattle medicine lay up in store. We need to have the pens in good repair and the barns ready for those animals that won't be able to stay out in the winter. The bulls need to be separated and we need the best semen taken for our best cows, and then the supply to sell. It's breeding time and we have to make sure that the lines are maintained for quality beef production. Martha has the ledgers with all that information and she'll help you match the ear tag numbers for the ones we want this year." He grinned at the looks on the men's faces, especially the newer men like Harry. "So you see, ya'll won't be having a vacation while we're gone, and the ones going won't be going to Disneyland."

He pulled the reins of his horse to turn it towards the gates. "Since Doc is going with me, you guys see Severus if you need any tending yourselves. Don't make trouble for Martha or you'll be getting the boot from me when I get back."

He was apparently finished talking because he headed his horse through the gates. The mounted men followed, followed by Doc in the seat of the mule drawn chuck wagon.

The men left in the yard stood there for a few minutes, not saying anything. Severus was heading to the house when Martha came out, a notebook in her hands. She walked up to the nearest group of men and opened the book. Pointing to the top of a page she said, "This is this year's pick for semen donation. Today you'll separate out these bulls from the rest. They need to be kept in the smaller pen next to the side door of the big barn. While a few of you do that the others need to get the barn ready. The big squeeze chute needs to be checked over. Some of the cows and bulls are hard on it and it needs to hold the biggest and meanest ones. Get the equipment ready. Make sure the collection instruments are sterilized. You'll find all of that in that office in the barn. It's all on a shelf and Neil keeps it plainly marked and in order. There are some manuals to study tonight for those of you that haven't done this before. If you have any questions, for Pete's sake ask! We don't need to have any of you gored or stepped on or getting a hand crushed because you don't know what to do." She thrust the notebook into the hands of one of the men and walked back towards the house. Over her shoulder she said, "Lunch will be ready when you get that all done."

The men looked back and forth to each other. All that had to be done before lunch? It seemed more like a full day or two worth of work. Harry was the first one to move. He held out a hand for the notebook.

"I'd like a look at that. I think I'd like to try my hand at gathering up bulls."

The others quickly split up into two groups; one to get the bulls and one to begin the work of getting the barn and pen ready. Both groups managed to work together pretty well until one of the men, Josh, decided that Harry wasn't doing his share.

Josh ran his horse right up beside Harry's, causing Harry's horse to step skittishly sideways. "You need to get out there and cut another bull out of the bunch," he said belligerently.

Harry looked at him as he ran a soothing hand over the neck of his horse. "I've cut out 3 already. I figured you'd want to do at least one yourself."

Josh reddened at being called on his own lack of progress. His jaw jutted out as he responded, "I'm supervising. I've been on the ranch the longest of this group. You're a greenhorn and I say you cut the rest of them."

Harry turned his horse away and over his shoulder he said, "No one was put in charge, Josh. Neil said we were all to work together."

Josh moved his horse to intercept Harry, stopping him and forcing the horse to back step. "I say I have the most experience here and I say that makes me the lead. Now get back in there and cut the rest of those bulls on the list."

Harry pulled the reins to the side and attempted to go around Josh. The other men had heard the exchange and had stopped what they were doing to watch. Harry looked at Josh steadily.

"Don't do this. I don't want trouble."

Josh leaned forward in his saddle and spat angrily, "You _are_ trouble, Zig Zag boy. You come in here with your high toned speech and you get Neil and Martha to fall all over you. Then Doc joins in and you seem to be made of gold, they're so happy to see to your every need. I say it's time you earned that worship with some real work for a change."

Harry heaved a calming breath before saying quietly, "I'm sorry that you feel I haven't done my share of the work. But it's not up to you to decide that. Perhaps if you were a better example of how to do things the correct way I'd learn faster."

Josh's eyes were flashing and in moments he had the coiled lasso from his saddle horn in his hand, whirling it over his head and letting it fall over Harry's shoulders before pulling it tight. Harry was pulled from his saddle to fall onto the ground in a sprawl. With his arms tight to his sides he was unable to catch himself and his face hit the ground hard. He struggled to his feet, blood flowing from his nose, before Josh backed his horse up and caused him to fall again.

By this time one of the men had run to the house. Martha and Severus came running out. Severus could see the dangerous look in Harry's green eyes as he stood again and managed to get his hands on the rope in front of him. He clenched his teeth and pulled on the rope. It should not have been enough to unseat Josh, but before Severus or Martha could say anything Harry had Josh on the ground and was straddling him, knees pressed into his shoulders and the rope held tight across his throat. Blood from Harry's nose dripped onto Josh's face.

Harry bent lower and hissed, "You ever come near me again and you'll really wish you hadn't. Stay away from me!" He rose up off the downed man after wiping his nose with the back of his hand and flicking red droplets onto Josh's face. He picked up his hat from the ground and dusted it off. He got back up on his horse and calmly rode off towards the fenced in cattle. He ignored everyone else and went back to looking for the next bull to cut out of the herd.

The only sound in the yard was Josh as he turned over in the dirt and coughed. He cursed loudly and looked up at Martha. "You see what that freak did, Martha? Did you see how he had me down on the ground? Damn! He got his blood all over me! Probably has some disease!"

Severus stiffened beside Martha. He remembered how Harry's relatives had called him 'freak' as he was growing up. It was one of the memories that had been so difficult for Harry to shield during all their Occlumency lessons. He looked out at Harry and could see by the ramrod stiffening of his shoulders that he had heard the name calling as well. The other men in the yard shuffled feet or got back up on their own horses, none daring to make a stance against Josh.

Martha had no hesitation. "Josh, I know you started it-"

Josh interrupted shouting, "You weren't out here so you didn't see how he pulled me off my horse. You saw him throw that blood on me, though! I know you heard him threaten me!"

The short woman stepped right up to the ranting cowboy. "And just how did Zag get that bloody nose, hmm? Just how did _your_ rope get around him that he used to pull you off your horse?"

Josh reddened and growled down at her, "He ain't pulling his share of the work around here!"

One of the other men finally did step forward. "Josh, Zag was the one who got the first 3 bulls. We only have 10 to cut and there's six of us. I figure he already got his share. Which ones have you cut?"

"I have seniority! I'm supervising!"

Another man stepped up at that. "Neil didn't put anyone in charge here. He just said to get the work done and we're doing it. None of us need your supervising. The only thing I see happening here is that you're keeping us from doing what needs to be done still."

Josh strode up to the man and shouted, "I been here longer than any of you! I should be out on the round-up but instead I'm stuck here babysitting all you idiots!"

Martha walked up to him then and with her hands on her hips she looked up at him. "Maybe if it's all such a dislike for you, you should pack up and leave."

"You're firing me? You can't fire me. You didn't hire me and you need my experience on the ranch." He was leaning over her in a threatening manner and Severus walked up behind her. Josh looked at him and narrowed his eyes. "You stay outa this Mister. You're newer than ZigZag and three times greener."

"I suggest you heed the lady and pack your gear." Severus rasped.

"I ain't leaving and there ain't anyone here who can make me." He made the mistake of pushing Severus in the chest with his finger.

Severus had him twisted around with Josh's back to his front, one of his arms locked at a painful angle up between his shoulder blades and one of Severus's arms tight around his neck. Severus whispered in the ear that was pinned next to his chest. "Mistake one, you decided to be an asinine bully like you were still in grade school. Mistake two, you didn't listen to Martha when she asked you nicely to leave. Mistake three, you didn't listen to me. I am not a man who takes stupid mistakes lightly." He pulled up on the twisted arm harshly, garnering a pained yelp from Josh. "Now, if you have learned anything from these mistakes, you will not hesitate to follow these next instructions. When I let you go you will run, not walk to the bunkhouse. You will immediately pack all your belongings. You will throw them in the back of the truck and get in the back yourself. You will sit there while I drive you back to town. You will buy your own ticket to anywhere away from here. You will not come back, nor will you ever try to work at any ranch in this part of the state for as long as you live. Do I make myself clear?"

Josh gave a jerky nod as much as he was able with his head and arm locked up by Severus. Severus threw the man away from him and Josh went down on the ground, cradling the abused arm with his other hand. He pushed himself to his feet and with a resentful glare at Severus he started towards the bunkhouse.

Severus called as loudly as his raspy voice allowed, "I said run." Josh half-heartedly broke into a jog. Severus turned to the remaining men. Without a word they mounted their own horses and rode back to the corral. In the distance Severus could see Harry already herding a bull back towards the holding pen.

When the men were gone Severus turned to Martha. She looked up at him, respect clear in her eyes. "Thank you. He has needed to get the boot for a long time. He always did put himself a bit higher than the others, since his family is in the business. But for some reason he's held a special grudge against Zag. They've been like oil and water. Zag tries to stay out of his way, but…" She trailed off as Josh reappeared in the doorway of the bunkhouse, a duffle bag over his shoulder.

Martha handed Severus the keys out of her pocket. "You might want to adjust your rear view mirror. I wouldn't want my back to him."

Severus strode towards the old pick up truck and reached it before Josh. He climbed in, happy to see that it was not a manual shift vehicle. He had learned to drive as a matter of necessity while he made his way around the world, looking for a place to be comfortable. At a time he spent in Argentina he had stayed with a family and learned to drive so he could be a chauffeur to get the children to school and go buy the groceries.

He climbed in after making sure Josh threw his gear into the bed of the truck and climbed in after it. The angry looking man sat down on the raised wheel well and kept glaring at Severus as he adjusted the rear view mirror so that he could easily keep him in sight. He took great pleasure in rounding the curve of the driveway quickly, causing Josh to have to grab hold of the side of the truck to keep from falling.

The other cowboys went back to their work, managing to finish the barn work and rounding up of the cattle not long after lunch was ready. Martha served them out in the pavilion. The men were silent, even though Zag had not come in. None of the rest of them liked talking bad about the English accented man. He was a hard worker and had picked up the basics quickly for someone who had never been around cattle before. They had a respect for him for doggedly practicing with his lasso until he got the technique down. He had earned higher marks in their eyes for not rising to many of the baiting remarks Josh had made. It had been Josh who had dared him to ride Steamer. They had thought that Zag would decline, but after Josh had kept up a vicious diatribe about Zag's accent, his smaller size, the scar on his head, and finally his mother, Zag had motioned that he accepted the dare. A couple of them tried to talk him out of it as he readied himself to mount the snorting bull. At the same time they noted his determination and began to give him quick pointers and advice for staying on the huge animal and then getting out of its way when he got off or got thrown. They had all been astonished when Zag had made the eight second time requirement, even though his ride had been clumsy and lacked the grace of an experienced rider.

Martha finally broke the silence. "Did he go riding off again?"

One the men, Mike, nodded. "Just like he always does whenever there's trouble. He handed over the last bull to us at the gate and then just turned and left. I expect he will get back after dark tonight."

Martha nodded. "He's done more than his share then? So none of the rest of you will be complaining that he left out?"

There was a murmur of assent before Mike said quietly, "He did way more than his share. He always does."

One of the others threw his fork down on his plate in disgust. "We should have stopped Josh from raggin' on him. Ever since Zag came here Josh has had it in for him. It doesn't make sense, but I guess Josh just didn't like it that a newcomer could show him up so badly."

Another spoke up, "Josh just expects for everyone to let him take over and be the boss. The rest of us just let it roll off us, because he never pushed us. He pushed Zag right from the start. You're right, Mike. We shoulda stood up and made Josh lay off him."

Severus drove into town, taking care to keep an eye on the man in the back. Only once did it look like Josh was thinking of creeping forward towards the open cab window in the back of the truck. Severus stopped that by speeding up quickly to throw the man backwards onto his butt in the bed of the truck.

Josh was able to get his seat back on the wheel well and glowered at Severus when their eyes met in the rear view mirror. Severus just gave him one of the evil smirks he had been well known for back when he was the dreaded Potions master of Hogwarts.

Once they were in town Severus drove right up to the bus station and slammed on the brakes, making Josh lose his seat again, this time so pitch forward and hit his shoulder on the back of the cab. He climbed out after throwing his duffle bag to the ground beside the truck.

Standing at the passenger window he growled at Severus, "Neil would have given me my check and the money for the ticket."

Severus sneered in return, "Neil is a much nicer man than I am. If he thinks you deserve it he'll send it to whatever address you send to him. If not…then I suppose you'll know what your true worth to the ranch was." He sneered again before gunning the engine and speeding away in a spray of dirt and dust. If he had cared to see it, he would have seen the rude gesture Josh sent after him, and see the mouthing of words of promised revenge.

Severus drove back to the ranch and parked the truck back in its usual spot. The men were already back to the afternoon's work of collecting the semen from the first six bulls. Martha was sitting in the pavilion, drinking a glass of tea as she wrote in the notebooks in front of her. Severus served himself some lunch and sat down across the table from her.

Without looking up she asked, "So, he's gone?"

"I left him at the bus station. He said that Neil would have given him a check and the money for his ticket."

Martha snorted. "Neil was too soft on him." He'll send a severance check because he won't want to have any more words than necessary with Josh's father. But he would only tell him to take the cost of the ticket out of that check."

Severus wanted to ask about Josh's father but refrained. If Martha wanted him to have the information she would tell him. He ate quietly and Martha finally shoved the notebook to the side before sitting back.

"Josh's family owns a big ranch upstate. They've got a good name in the business. When Josh first came here looking for a job, we just thought that his father wanted him to get some impartial training for the business. It's done a lot. Also, some big ranchers like to see what the competition is doing." She took a sip of her tea and Severus looked up when she didn't continue right away. She heaved a deep sigh.

"Neil has put up with a lot of attitude from the boy out of respect for his dad. Up to now it's been enough. But Zag coming along didn't set well with Josh and he didn't hesitate to show it. Likely his dad will call Neil for details since it wasn't Neil who sacked him. But Neil will back you up when I tell him how Josh was with me. He doesn't take it well it all if one of the boys thinks less of me and actually acts on it."

She laughed and added, "There was a time when he actually lassoed a boy and drug him over to that same truck before throwing him in the back and hogtying him. He drove him to town like that and untied him in the street in front of everybody. That boy had dared to call me a bitch where Neil could hear it."

Severus stood up and picked up his plate, mentally counting the plates that were neatly stacked and ready for cleaning on the end of the table. He came up one short and frowned. "Even without Josh there is one plate too few. Who didn't eat yet?"

"Zag rode off after he finished rounding up the last of the bulls." At Severus's questioning expression she continued, "After someone confronts him like Josh did he usually does that. When he first rode off and didn't come back until sun-up we thought we'd have to send a search party out. But he says he just needs the time and space to clear his head."

Severus picked up the plates and carried them over to the cart that was used to transport food and dishes to and from the house. Martha was heading towards the house and stopped to call back, "I'll bet you anything there's a storm in the dessert tonight. Seems like every time he rides off there's a heat lightning storm and I worry about him being caught out in it."

She had already turned back to the house when Severus had processed the words. Heat lightning? What in Merlin's name was that?

Severus cleaned the dishes and then used the quiet time in the kitchen to brew more restorative tea for Harry. He used a few of his own small stock of ingredients to add a blood replenishing component. Harry's nose bleed had been spectacular and he had not stayed put long enough for it to be seen to. The fool probably was off trying to heal himself. Why the golden boy never seemed to understand that it was not a wise idea to heal oneself, nor was it ever effective enough, Severus didn't know. The ranch library in Neil's office offered a huge selection of books that Severus perused eagerly, wanting to increase his knowledge about the ranch workings and how things were done in theory. He came upon a book on weather phenomenon in North America and looked up heat lightning in the index.

_**Ordinary lightning results from the discharge of **__**negative ions**__** created from the **__**friction**__** of ice and water particles bumping into each other at the bottom of a cloud. Heat lightning can be an early warning sign that thunderstorms are approaching. In **__**Florida**__**, heat lightning is often seen out over the water at **__**night**__**, the remnants of storms that formed during the day along a sea breeze **__**front**__** coming in from the opposite coast.**_

The explanation was short but Severus sat there pondering it for over a half hour before he went to start the beginnings of what would be supper.

A trip to the barn let him see first hand how the bulls were guided to ejaculate into containers. The contents of the containers were divided up into individual tubes and labeled. One of the men was using another sample to look at under a microscope. The clicking mechanism in his hand told him that the man was counting individual sperm and noting how active they were. The information was being logged in a ledger. The individual tubes were being placed into carriers and placed into a freezer in the corner. The sign on the freezer noted that it was only for this purpose and not for the storage of beer, soda, or food.

The actual process was more interesting than the reading of it, he found. No one seemed to mind that Zag wasn't there to help. Mike finally made a comment that echoed Martha's.

"Wonder if there will be a lightning show tonight. Usually there's something out in the dessert whenever Zag goes off."

The other men laughed and one of them commented that some rain would be appreciated if they were going to have the lightning. The grass was getting dry and winter was around the corner. Some more growth of the life giving grass would be welcome. The captive bull of the moment bellowed as someone drew a blood sample before he was led out and released back into the holding pen.

Severus looked over it all in silence until Mike asked, "Did you need somethin' Severus?"

The speaking of his first name grated on his sensibilities. It seemed that these rough Americans felt no restraint in addressing people familiarly upon first meetings. He struggled briefly with a sharp reprimand, remembering that these weren't his students, nor were they the more politely bred of British society.

"I was merely observing the operations. One's knowledge is not complete until you have read it, observed it, accomplished it."

The men looked back at him blankly for a few moments before Mike asked, "Does that mean you want to give it a try tomorrow? How well do you do on a horse?" None of them had seen him yet ride so that was a fair question and one that Severus had no hesitation in answering.

"I can ride, but I'm afraid that I do not possess the skills necessary to … " he thought of the terminology that had been used all around him for the last few days, "…the skills to 'round up' cattle. I will have to be satisfied with assisting at this part of the operations."

The men looked to be thinking over his response before a few finally turned to finish what they had been doing before. Mike grinned. "You fellows from across the pond sure do have a way of talking. I guess you can try your hand in here tomorrow. The bulls won't know if you don't get it right the first time."

Severus had no intention of getting it wrong the first time. He was certain that he would be proficient at the blood drawing and after watching the harvesting of semen first hand he was certain that he could do that as well. He was pleased that there were meticulous records kept of each bull as they had worked with it. He had not expected the process to be so thorough, but then he had realized from the start that Neil took his ranching business seriously.

He picked up the ledger and saw that not only were there columns for detailing the amount of sperm obtained at each time, but the blood tests done and a place for their results waited documentation. In further columns were spaces for noting who the sperm would be sold to and the official number of the cow it would be used on. The blood lines were obviously kept on record for future use.

He heard whispering in the background and muttered questions from across the room. He heard them asking each other about what had happened to Josh and if anyone thought that Severus would try to run things now, among other speculations. He snapped the book closed with a thud, startling them all. Black eyes pierced them in a way that former Hogwarts students could have told you saw right through to your inner most secrets.

"Josh was let off in town at the bus station. He was more or less in one piece when I left him," he smirked evilly, causing the men to shuffle nervously. Severus continued, "I was hired to cook and back up the man you call Doc, and to manage when necessary. At this moment in time my only objective is to see that the operations of the ranch follow the direction of the person Neil left in charge; Martha. Thus far I have seen men who work well together with no need of someone 'supervising' their every action. If that continues you will receive no interference from me." He laid the ledger down on the scarred desk and strode out of the barn. Behind him he could hear them discussing him and his words. He smiled to himself at some of their adjectives.

_**A/N1**__: This is a much longer chapter than I intended, but there was not a good place to break before now. A reviewer said that they were getting a Brokeback Mountain kind of feeling from the story. I don't know, as I have never seen the movie. Actually, I am at the point of writing later chapters where I will have to make a relationship decision… any thoughts?_

_**A/N2**__: I am using terminology as appropriate as I can to the cattle industry. Some is probably is hogwash, but a lot I got from what I remember growing up, being around the cattle of my brother-in-law, and info from the internet. If you find it entertaining, then great. If you find it seriously lacking in interest then I am sorry. I am writing to make the story as realistic as possible. Ranching is a hard business and the people who work it are hard workers. If you belong to PETA then good-bye. MY husband and father are hunters and fishermen and we eat meat at our house. To us, PETA stands for People Eating Tasty Animals. We do not waste it. Most people who work with animals, are hunters, or who make their living from the land are the true conservationists and understand about the balance of the environment. More events in the story will incorporate Native American lore and legend. In this too I will endeavor to be as accurate while being entertaining as possible!]_

_Explanations of some words:_

_Cutting__- in relation to the cattle industry, this is a term generally used to mean separating one bovine from a group. In rodeos you will see competitions for the horse and rider teams who are the best at cutting out a calf or a steer from a group and keeping it separated for a prescribed time period. These specially trained horses are called Cutting Horses._

_Artificial Insemination__- In the cattle industry this is a big deal. The best semen from prize bulls commands a high price. Cattlemen try to keep improving different aspects of their stock by using the best for their needs. Cattlemen sell semen to other ranchers so that the lines are made better. Inbreeding continuously will cause problems in the stock, as in any other instance. The procedure I describe in my story is a mix from different googled sites. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Supper that night was fairly light hearted since the men had finished a good days work. Having Josh gone seemed to take a nervous edge off them all. Zag was once again absent and Severus felt a curious nagging in his gut because of it. He understood the need to clear ones head and have some space. If only such a luxury had been available back in the days of the war, maybe they would have all been better able to handle the stresses that came their way. Maybe he would not have been so short-tempered with his students. Maybe the Harry Potter that he remembered would have been less likely to go off on idiotically wild Gryffindor impulses and try to save everyone.

Music was more subdued in the early evening and when he asked about it he was told that Josh was the one who always played it loud because he had quickly realized how much it irritated the older men. They were all satisfied with the quieter sounds and being able to easily hear each other as they played cards or talked. When it became dark they gathered out away from the lights from the buildings and stood watching in different directions. Severus observed their anticipation, wondering why the atmospheric display held such appeal for them.

Finally one of them gave a shout and pointed towards the west. "There it is! Looks like a big one tonight!"

One of the men asked which way Zag had gone and Mike assured them that Zag had ridden east that day.

They stood watching the storm in the distance, oohing and awing like it was a fireworks display. Severus watched in fascination. At Hogwarts the enchanted ceiling had been right over their heads and hardly anyone looked right up into the bright flashes when it was showing a storm. Here, the flashes were at a distance, unaccompanied by sound. The colors were a muted green or soft white and mostly what Severus knew from his reading to be sheet lightening. Occasionally, there would be a flash that had an edge of reddish tint to it. The whole horizon would light up, throwing the flat lands and some uprising hills into stark relief. The darkness between flashes was complete.

The storm did not move any closer but the flashes finally came less and less frequently. When they thought it was done the men began to talk again and start to turn around. The flash that streaked across the sky at that moment was blinding, despite the distance. In a few seconds the loud repercussive boom reached them. Severus tilted his head as he watched the last of the streak turn a familiar green color. It traced an erratic pattern as it fingered out in branches across the sky, leaving an after image on the clouds that slowly faded.

Martha spoke quietly, "Never seen that before. We don't usually hear the thunder because it's so far away. I wonder if the storm will really make it to us, since we heard it…"

Everyone was saying their good nights and heading to the bunk house. Tomorrow would come before daylight so they could get the rest of the bulls rounded up. Not only did they have to get the first semen samples from the next batch but the bulls that had already been done would be done again once their blood work was finalized.

Severus sat back on the porch where he could keep watching the sky in the west. Martha came back out after a bit and sat in the chair beside him.

"It was something, wasn't it?" she commented. "I don't remember it ever being that bright. Now look. It doesn't look like anything is happening at all. It's like the storm totally dissipated."

Severus waited until he felt he could speak blandly. "I really have no experience in the weather phenomena of North America with which to make a comment. If you are speaking of observation alone then I would agree that it was … spectacular."

She gave a chuckle and looked over at him in the dark. "You do use a lot of words to get things said, you know. But I like listening to it. I like your voice."

Severus brushed that aside. "My voice is broken and it pains me to speak too long. I cannot see what there is to like."

"Well, sure, it's a little rough. But you have that accent that makes American women crazy."

Severus was glad for the dark as he felt his face heat. He supposed that he should be grateful that he was here amongst a bunch of men and only one woman who happened to be married to the boss. Instead of saying that he said, "If the women of this country are so shallow as to be attracted by an accent then I am glad that there are none around here, except for you, of course."

Martha chuckled again and then asked, "What do you find attractive in a woman, Severus?"

When no answer came for a long minute she apologized. "I'm sorry. That was pretty forward to ask when I haven't known you that long."

Severus sighed and said, "There was only one, a very long time ago. She married another and was killed in the war. Since that time there has been no one of any note who has caught my attention."

"No one?" she asked gently. "No one either female or male?"

He looked over at her in surprise. To the best of his ability to discern it, most Americans had either good feelings or bad feelings about the people who proclaimed to be gay. It seemed most of them harbored the bad feelings and the prejudices that accompanied it. The people who lived out here or had the types of living environment that was here tended to be those who opposed homosexuality.

She chuckled again. "I know. It's a little startling for an old lady like me to be so liberal. But I find that I am happier if I allow others to be what makes them happy in life. So long as it doesn't hurt anyone… I see nothing wrong with it."

Ha remained silent and she finally asked, "So, are you? Gay, I mean?"

He sighed again, more heavily this time. He wanted to be irritated at the woman but he could hear only concern and well meaning in her voice. "I believe so, yes. There has been no one of any importance."

She thought for a few moments and then conversationally said, "I don't think you'll find many in this business. At least, if they are they don't show it or share it. You're right to keep it to yourself. Most of the people you'll meet around here wouldn't take it very well. Especially if you'll be doing any doctoring of them."

"I'll keep that in mind." He offered no more information and Martha asked no more questions. They sat in a companionable silence until Martha stood up and said her good night to him.

Severus had dozed for awhile in the night as he sat there on the porch. The sound of quiet footsteps had him instantly alert. In the barely lighter glow before the dawn he drew his wand and had it in his hand.

"You don't need it. It's just me, Snape."

"It's Prince," Severus corrected. "I will be the judge of whether or not I need my wand, _Mr. Potter_."

Zag sat down in the chair next to Severus. "It's Black, actually. Legally and everything. It's a common enough name that even with keeping the name Harry there are literally thousands of Harry Black's in the world."

He did not feel the need to divulge how much of the Black and Potter vaults he had handed over to the Gringotts goblins in recompense for the damage done when he and Ron and Hermione had taken the horcruxes. He claimed it was in payment for helping him secure his new identity and the papers that would allow him to go anywhere in the world.

As Harry sat there in thought though, he gradually found himself thinking out loud, telling Severus things he had told no one else…

"The goblins said they didn't want my galleons, since I had done the world a service by killing Voldemort…"

The goblins had not demanded it and had even been reluctant to accept it when Harry had insisted. He had felt a heavy guilt for all the collateral damage of the war. He was told by many that he shouldn't but he was told by just as many that he could have done things differently and spared more lives. Those people didn't really understand and had mostly been those who had cowered and depended on the Boy Who Lived to save them. They had wanted it, but without any inconvenience. The wizarding world was in upheaval on many fronts after the reign of Voldemorts terror came to an end. The repercussions affected the world on many levels, including economic, geographical, and psychological.

"Everyone just expected me to make it all perfect, to make it great for everyone…."

Witches and wizards wanted someone to blame for their difficulties when they had expected for everything to turn out as golden as they had made Harry out to be.

"The Weasley's tried to make me feel less guilty, but all I could see was all the destruction…"

A few others had done their best to draw him out of those depths of guilt, but he could only see how he might make it better. He had sent donations to orphanages, to the Auror Corp of the ministry, to many of the shops in Diagon Alley and finally to Gringotts.

"Ginny started out alright… but she just expected so much more than I could give her…"

Ginny had berated him for wasting his wealth while exclaiming that she didn't really care for it anyway. But Harry had sensed her aggravation when her family was given only as much as other families Harry had bestowed grants to. She expected that she would be able to live a lavish lifestyle once she and Harry married. She had been irate when he dragged his feet. Her attitude had opened his eyes to how she viewed him and how she no longer had a crush for the poor Harry but was enchanted by the newly wealthy Harry.

It was about now that Severus realized that although Harry started out speaking aloud, and occasionally spoke out loud when the subject changed, the information was flowing not in spoken words but in streams of consciousness. He was getting images of what Harry was thinking about, as clearly as if they were standing in a penseive. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he turned to peer at Harry in the darkness.

"I worried about what had happened to you. Everyone else who had died had been laid to rest. I cleared your name before the Wizengamot… even though they all said I shouldn't. I couldn't bear to think that you might be in some hell of an afterlife because it was believed that you were a bad person." He looked over at Severus then and his eyes glowed faintly green, reminding Severus of the lightning seen earlier...

"I guess I snapped when she told me to never say your name again because I was embarrassing her..." No longer feeling that he had a place in wizarding Britain, he had approached the goblin in charge of his vaults.

Gripshard had been amazed by Harry's generosity to the goblins and Gringotts after the war. Most people felt that the institution was there only to serve them, and to return the lower vault structure to its former levels of security with his own galleons had gained Harry the fast loyalty of the goblin nation.

When harry had decided to leave ,Gripdshard sat with him and they had designed Harry's new identity and the legal papers to go with it. They obtained the muggle paperwork and passport, secured a muggle banking account that drew on his Gringott's accounts, and aided him in making travel plans. Harry had given them further oversight of the Potter and Black vaults. They had promised to use them to improve the economy anonymously while making sure that the vaults continued to prosper. Harry really had no need to work at all but he could not see himself just lounging around in that affluence. He needed to be busy. He needed to forget. He needed to start over.

"I just needed to be somewhere else, anywhere where people didn't know me, didn't know what I was…" His voice drifted softer as he gazed back out at the land that was beginning to show early daylight.

Severus had waited while the younger man obviously brooded before he went with his first impulsive question. "Were you in the lightning?"

Zag's voice was nonchalant, "Why would you think that? I'm sure at least one person saw me ride in the exact opposite direction yesterday."

"Perhaps the skill of misdirection was finally learned. Perhaps with time you have been able to put your Gryffindor brain to good use."

"Misdirection? As I recall that was your specialty," Harry retorted. The air was heavy with unasked and unanswered questions. Harry shifted uneasily, as if suddenly aware of how much he had told Severus.

There was movement from within the house and Harry got up from the chair, disappearing into the gloom towards the bunkhouse. Severus sat there for awhile longer as he processed what he had just heard and what he had felt. Now that Harry was gone, he could feel a tide of magic ebbing away, as if they had been surrounded by it, but now it was slowly evaporating. He had not even realized how much he could feel the brush of it on his skin until it was disappearing.

Severus went inside to find Martha starting the coffee. She was already dressed for the day's work. She looked up when he came in. "Zag make it back alright?"

She raised an eyebrow at him when he stared at her. "He always comes back right before dawn. I waited up for him myself the first few times he hared off like that. He'll shower and be at breakfast as if he'd been here all along. The other fellows won't say anything. Josh would have made something of it, but not the others."

Severus began to gather the ingredients for breakfast out of the refrigerator and responded, "He just returned."

Martha nodded. "Yes. He's an odd duck at times, but I think I care for him as if he were my own. I don't know why… but something about him makes me want to be a momma to him."

Severus hid his frown as he began to break eggs into a bowl. Martha tentatively asked, "Do you know if he is close to his mother?"

He beat the eggs a bit harder than necessary as Martha laid a slab of bacon in a large skillet. After a long silence she started to murmur an apology.

"Don't," Severus interrupted. "It's alright. It's probably best that you asked me anyway." He turned to look at her. "His parents were killed by the man who started the civil war we fought in. He was just a baby. He was raised by resentful relatives and his life with them was harsh. All he knows of his mother is what he has been told; that she was beautiful and kind and smart. He has her eyes."

"The poor man," she said softly. "Resentful relatives?"

"They were not nice to him. I cannot say more-"

"Of course not, I understand. But it answers so many questions. He's always overly polite and deferential. I bet they made him feel unwanted and he tried his best to make them love him."

Severus was once again taken aback by her astuteness. For a muggle she was quite intuitive. He mentally grimaced at his automatic response of deriding anything muggle by assuming that they were less capable or intelligent. His lack of response to Martha's comment only confirmed her belief regarding Harry's upbringing.

The men straggled into the kitchen one or two at a time. When the ranch had only half the hands there they tended to gather in the house, Martha told him. Harry was last and he studiously avoided Severus's gaze as he took a seat and began helping himself to the huge bowl of scrambled eggs.

He was the first to finish as the others lingered a bit over their coffee. The door closed softly behind him and it wasn't long before Mike commented, "I wish I knew what he does to get himself back together, as he calls it. I don't think I could stay out in the dessert all night by myself without even a bedroll or a gun." He hastened to add, "Not that I'm a coward or anything," he directed his words to Severus, "but there's rattlesnakes and mountain lions out there. The lions are probably trying to fatten up before the winter and the snakes are looking for dens and warm spots. I'd sure hate to be a warm spot for one of them to take a liking for."

Severus looked as all the men around the table nodded in agreement. Martha made a shooing motion and they all stood up, scraping their chairs on the floor in a cacophony of noise, as they headed for the door and the day's work.

After cleaning the kitchen Severus joined them outside to observe the operations once again. The rest of the bulls were herded into the pen by men working together easily. The tenseness from the day before was gone and no one seemed to be slacking or trying to out do anyone else. Severus watched as Zag, he had noted how he switched back and forth between calling him Zag when around others to calling him Harry when thinking of the man when he was alone, rode half circles around the bull they called Steamer. Gradually he coerced the huge animal towards the pens until he reluctantly ambled through.

The men gave a cheer and Mike called, "Thata way, Zag! Show that bastard who's boss!".

Severus had been watching closely and Harry didn't appear to have any residual signs to show he had been recently injured by riding the bull, nor was there any sign on his face from the fall off his horse the day before. None of the men commented on it but Severus filed the information away. It seemed that Harry was not reluctant to heal himself when he went away on his solitary rides.

Severus doubted that Harry had been truthful about not being near the lightning. He wasn't sure why he had a feeling that the two were somehow linked. He had never heard of such a connection in a wizard before, but then Harry had never followed the norm for anything, had he? He planned to research his shrunken library of reference material as soon as he had the opportunity.

The day went quickly with everyone working together and accomplishing the semen collections, repairing some of the equipment on the list Neil had left and taking inventory of supplies on hand. There were several repairs that turned out to require things that would need to be obtained in town and Martha made a list of those, as well as the foodstuffs that would need to be laid up in the house and cellars for winter. Plans were made for Severus and several of the men to make a trip to town the next morning.

o-o-o-o

The truck was full and Severus knew it would be difficult to get all they needed in town into it for the return trip. But almost all the ranch hands that were still on the ranch had wanted to go. Mike and Joe had stayed behind to tend to the daily chores but the other four, including Zag, had piled into the cab and bed of the truck along with Severus. This trip was taken at a smoother pace than the one in which Severus had driven Josh to town, but they made it in a short time and then Severus handed out the lists of supplies that the men would be rounding up. Working in teams of two they would be done fairly quickly.

The town itself was small, quaint and built around a central square that housed the courthouse and county jail. The buildings directly surrounding the square included all the shops and stores that the ranches and farms nearby frequently used. Fanning out around the square were more buildings housing stores and offices. This was the oldest area of the town proper and there were a number of older homes, built back when families wanted to move to the wide open spaces of the state but were reluctant to be cut off from civilization during the harsh winters. Some ranch families had homes in town for the women to stay in during that time. Some of the houses had been turned into bed and breakfast inns for tourists who wanted to see this part of the country in comfort. There were a few eating establishments as well, and a few of the men took the opportunity to get a quick bite of fare prepared by someone outside the ranch.

Basic foodstuffs, veterinary supplies, and the pipes and welding equipment needed to repair some pens were loaded efficiently into the bed of the truck. As they were about to get back in and head out of town, Josh came out of a small coffee shop on the square and ambled towards the truck. The ranch hands stopped what they were doing and waited as he approached. Josh just grinned at them all and then looked at Severus.

"When Neil gets back our positions will be reversed. You'll be the one without a job and I will be back at the ranch as foreman."

Zag moved forward a step and said quietly, "You don't know that. Neil won't back down-"

Josh moved towards Zag until he was looking down his nose at the shorter man. "You'll be out of work too ZIg Zag boy. You've worn out your welcome in these parts. Do yourself a favor and get out before you embarrass yourself even more than you already have."

Zag stood his ground and looked up at the belligerent man. "I think not, Josh. I'm not afraid of you. You're just like some bullies I used to know. They were always throwing their weight around, boasting over who their parents were and how much they were worth. Their downfall was pretty spectacular in the end. I'd be the one concerned, if I were you." He never wavered in his eye contact with the taller man.

Josh threw a punch that should have caught Zag squarely in the jaw. Zag sidestepped and Josh missed, the momentum of the punch carrying him awkwardly around in a half circle. He fumed at the miss and stepped right back into another attempt at a violent punch.

Zag stepped aside again and grinned at him. "Getting a little slow aren't you?"

"Why you upstart brit- bastard-" He lunged toward Zag as his hand reached down towards a knife strapped to his leg.

That was all it took for all the other men to converge on Josh, throwing arms around him and dragging him away from the truck and Zag. They moved him across the square and out of sight between the buildings as he ranted all the while at them for holding him back from his target.

Severus watched Zag for a few moments. There was almost a look of regret in the man's face. As he watched, Zag closed his eyes and then shook out his hands, as if he had been the one to throw a punch and actually land it. The air around them seemed to waver with a wind that was not from the atmosphere around them. There was a slight smell… Severus realized that it was ozone and his eyes widened. It was the smell that witches and wizards associated with the random wild bursts of accidental magic that young children were prone to before they learned to control it. For a few more moments Zag seemed to be focused inward on himself, concentrating on pulling his magic back inside. He opened his eyes and saw Severus's knowing look and he scowled.

"Don't even ask," he spat. "I'm not discussing it. Not with you."

"With who then? It's obvious, to me at least, that you are having some sort of difficulty with your magic. Perhaps-"

"There is no trouble. I'm fine. Just forget it." His eyes were flashing in determination.

"Harry-" Severus began.

Zag threw up a hand to hold back Severus's words. "I said forget it." He turned to walk away and over his shoulder he said, "I'll see everyone back at the ranch."

Severus frowned. "How will you get back?"

Zag stopped and turned to give him a withering look. "How do you think?"

With that he walked rapidly down the street until he had disappeared in the opposite direction that Josh had been taken in.

_**A/N**__: FFNet has been down as far as story updating for the last few days. At least I hope it's not a problem just with me, but a routine maintenance issue. Therefore, I had time to get this chapter ready to post while I waited. A __**big**__ thanks for the smart person on the forum who let me know of a 'back door' way of posting updates! Sadly, Spring Break is over and I have to go back to work. I do hope to keep up fairly regular updates until this is done. Thank you for reading and for all the reviews! I love them!_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Severus shook his head. He supposed that Zag had decided to apparate. He hoped that he knew how to do it so that it did not attract unwanted attention from anyone. Perhaps he had done so before and had timed it so that it appeared that he walked the entire distance between the town and the ranch. Then Severus remembered what Doc had said about Zag showing up that first day, not looking as if he had just walked a long distance from Cheyenne. He had probably apparated then, as well. He could not help but think about the dangers of traveling in unknown territory that way. He heaved a deep breath and shook his head again as he turned to check on the supplies that had been loaded.

The men came back after a bit and they all got back into the truck.

"Where's Zag?" one of them asked.

Severus kept his eyes on the road. "He found another way back."

The men looked at him strangely but no one asked for details. The Englishmen had a completely different way of dealing with life than they had ever seen. On the one hand, they both seemed reluctant to get involved in heavy disagreements. On the other hand, this did not make them weaker in their eyes, because neither of them backed down when their limits were reached. They had seen Zag in action, even though they had a peculiarly difficult time remembering the details of the fight between Zag, Josh, and one of the hands that had been playing at being Josh's cohort. They had also seen Zag and Severus both take on Josh at the ranch yesterday. Severus was no high flown city man. He had proven his skill and strength when he had thrown Josh off the ranch.

As they drove down the two lane road back to the ranch Severus thought about what he had discovered, and he was determined to find out what it all meant. He would have to get in touch with Abe. Maybe there had been details that he had not been given while he had been recovering from Nagini's attack. He had certainly not felt like reading any of the newspapers. He had pretty much kept himself apart from the wizarding world, content to let them all believe him to be dead. His nightmares had been horrendous. The healing had been uncertain and slow. Abe had done his best until Severus had been on his feet enough to begin brewing his own potions. It had only been Severus's foresight in taking small doses of antivenom that had kept him from being killed immediately. As it was, the brutal tearing of his flesh and the rapid action of Nagini's venom had all but destroyed his vocal cords. He had suffered severe blood loss when the venoms anticoagulant effect had kept his blood from clotting. His life force was flooding out onto the floor of the Shrieking Shack when Potter and Granger had found him. He had truly thought himself dead as he managed to impart the crucial memories to them. When he had regained consciousness it was nearly a month later. He had been so weak that Abe had needed to treat him as if he were an infant for another two months. After that he began to regain his strength at an excruciatingly slow pace. He had not cared what was going on outside the hidden house where Abe had taken him. He read old Potions journals that Abe was able to get and he watched the muggle television Abe was also addicted to. Abe eventually got his hands on some muggle medical journals that detailed rehabilitative therapies and he forced Severus to begin an exercise regime to regain his strength. Many, many months later, Severus was finally strong enough physically and magically to apparate to his own home. He ordered things like food and brewing ingredients through owl mail, using a false name. He sank into research until he finally realized that he did not wish to remain a prisoner in his own home. He had a reasonable amount of savings and he used it to obtain the papers with the name Severus Prince, taking his mother's maiden name, and then made travel plans away from Great Britain. After being used to doing quite a bit the muggle way and watching the telly he was able to adapt to traveling easily. He had mellowed enough to be able to keep his notorious temper and sneer in check. When he got to a place he liked he would try to get some type of employment. Claiming to be an eccentric with a love for homeopathic remedies was useful. There were always people who readily desired the all natural brews, teas, salves, etc, that he concocted for their various ailments. When he tired of a place he moved on.

He had found the United States to be confusing. People rarely paid attention to who or what was around them, but when they did they took hold of it like it was their business to pry all the answers out of you. The various stations of people found within a single geographic area were astounding. The very poor were mere streets away from the very wealthy. The two ignored each other as much as was possible; the poor knowing that the rich preferred to ignore the immediate poverty around them in favor of writing out large checks for 'causes'.

He had run across a few communities with a magical population, but for the most part they seemed scattered around and well mixed in with the general society. There was never any news of the wizarding world in Great Britain when he got his hands on the magical newspapers here. It was as if they were so completely removed from it that the war 'over there' had never happened. That certainly helped him to be able to be among his own kind and use the name Severus Prince without anyone looking at him in question. No one here was involved in wanting to know what your bloodlines or ancestry consisted of.

He was roused out of his ruminations as they reached the ranch. The men unloaded the supplies and then went eagerly to lunch that Martha had prepared in their absence.

Severus sought her out and asked, "Do you know of a place nearby that sells the herbs and such that Doc uses? I need to replenish my own stocks and I prefer to see it first hand rather than to order it by mail."

She nodded. "Doc always drives up to the reservation. It's a long trip to start in the afternoon. He usually leaves first thing of a morning so he can get back before dark."

"If you don't mind me being absent overnight I will sleep in the truck if I get too fatigued."

She nodded again and proceeded to draw him out a map that would take him towards the mountains in the other direction on the road that led to town. "It'll take you about three hours to get there. There's an old Indian man who they say is a shaman or their version of a medicine man. He dries all these plants and uses them in the tribal ceremonies and as some of the medicinal uses they have. He sells them whenever Doc asks him. I suppose he will sell them to you too, if he has what you're looking for."

Severus nodded. "Are you certain you will be alright here with the men?"

She waved a hand airily. "Of course. The rest of them are good boys. With Josh gone these will be no trouble."

Severus nodded before going to his room to pack what he needed for the quick trip. Once in the truck he nodded at the men by the barn and drove away.

The trip was uneventful and the land he drove through appeared to be barren except for the cactus, short scrubby bushes, and the occasional rabbit or ground squirrel that hurried across the road in front of him. There were a few birds hovering that he recognized as being either vultures or some smaller hawks.

The reservation was small; a few run down looking buildings, a gas station and general store, a small school, and a building that proclaimed itself to be Tribal Council Headquarters. He headed for the store first. A bronze skinned woman stood up from where she had been sitting in a rocker and knitting. She looked at him suspiciously.

Severus looked directly back at her and spoke, "I have heard that Doc comes here to the reservation to obtain herbs and other medicinal plants. Could you be so kind as to direct me to the shaman?"

She stood there for several seconds, appearing to need the time to unravel his long winded request. Finally she gave him a toothy smile and led him back outside. Pointing down the road further into the land of the reservation she spoke in a language that Severus did not recognize as being anything Latin based. He decided to follow the directions her hands had waved and forget about trying to translate her words. With a small nod and slight smile of thanks he returned to the truck and drove. The roads deteriorated into roughly rutted dirt and gravel immediately after the buildings. He guessed that he was now on the reservation proper.

He had gone several miles before he finally saw in the distance another set of small buildings. Slowing down he noted the basic one room house and some small pens and a small barn. He pulled to a stop in front of the house and got out. A few chickens squawked about pecking at the dirt and he heard the baaing of some sheep or goats from the pens. No one came out to see who had driven up, so after waiting a few minutes he decided to seek out who ever lived there and ask if the shaman was close by.

He stopped in surprise as he rounded the back of the house. Under a small lean to type structure sat a very wrinkled old man, a blanket around his shoulders. He was smoking a long pipe, the smoke circling him and floating out into the breeze beyond the short roof. That wasn't the surprise though. The surprise was seeing Harry sitting across from the old man, his own legs criss-crossed and a similar pipe between his own teeth. Both men looked up as Severus approached.

The old Indian man spoke to Harry and Severus was further astonished when Harry answered fluently in the same language. He was sure that Harry would not have learned Native American tongues in Great Britain and from what he had heard Harry had been in these parts less than a year.

Harry turned amused green eyes up to him as the Indian cackled to whatever it was that he had said.

"Have a seat. Gray Thunder here wants to meet you."

Severus did as Harry said, sitting down as Harry shifted over a bit. The Indian held out his pipe to Severus. He shook his head and Harry murmured, "Don't be rude. He is offering it as a symbol of meeting you in peace and friendship. To deny it would mean that you have unsavory intentions towards him and his tribe."

Severus took the pipe that the Indian was insistently thrusting towards him. He took a short drag and coughed. The Indian cackled and Harry grinned. Severus narrowed his eyes at Harry and Harry spoke to the Indian again. Gray Thunder took the pipe and made a show of demonstrating the proper technique to Severus. Then he handed the pipe back to him and motioned for him to give it a try.

Severus tried to follow the directions and was more successful the next time. He passed the pipe back after taking another few puffs. In the silence Harry continued to stare at Severus.

Gray Thunder was also staring at Severus and then he said something to Harry. Harry nodded and said something back. In irritation Severus rebuked him sarcastically, "Don't be rude. Hasn't anyone ever told you that it was rude to speak about them in a language they couldn't understand when they are right here?"

Harry grinned again. "There are two spells. The first is 'understanding to my ears', "Intempestivus per sic quod auris". It will let you hear what is said in whatever language it's in and know exactly what the speaker is saying. The second spell is 'translate my words', "redo videlicet exaudio". It will let you say what you want and the words will automatically be spoken in the language the hearer needs."

Severus frowned. "I have never heard of those spells."

"There's a good reason for that. I made them up myself."

Severus frowned even more. Spell Crafters were rare. Almost every spell in current use had been developed centuries before and when the need arose it might be tweaked by a very competent and or strong witch or wizard. The spells covered virtually every need of the modern wizard and new ones were rarely needed.

In Europe, the magical communities spoke their native languages. If someone needed to know another language, it was learned from tutors, school, or other knowledgeable family members. The more affluent of society might hire employees who spoke the language they needed to conduct business matters with those from other countries.

Severus bit his tongue to keep from asking Harry to explain how he had done it. He obviously had and Severus would not give Harry the satisfaction of asking him. Not if he could figure out what he had done and how on his own.

Harry answered another query from Gray Thunder. The old Indian was gesturing to Severus and Harry was responding in a very earnest way. Severus waited until Harry sat back and Gray Thunder seemed to settle in for more smoking. Turning to Severus he said, "Gray Thunder says that he will give you all the herbs, plants, and available animal ingredients that you need. But only after you give him a demonstration of your magic."

Severus shook his head and hissed, "What? Why are you telling him about my magic? How does he even know what I came here for?"

Harry grinned again and took a puff. "There are no statutes of secrecy here, Severus. Gray Thunder can feel your magic. He knew when you were two miles away that you were coming. I told him you were a man who worked powerful magic with the plants and animals. He wants to see it for himself. Apparently it's been a long time since there was a Medicine Man who was as capable as I've told him you are."

Severus was taken aback by Harry's praise of him while at the same time still fuming that Harry was speaking so openly about magic with this unknown old man.

Harry was watching his face and before Severus could formulate a response Harry was saying, "Gray Thunder is a powerful man with his own earth magic. That's the type of magic I feel here. It's been getting diluted and weaker over the last few generations, but he has a full amount of ability, I believe you'll find."

"How do you know so much about this earth magic and what it consists of? I don't believe that you have been here long enough to learn all of this yourself."

"It's true I haven't been here long. But there are things about me that you don't understand. I really don't want to go into it now. All you need to know is that he has what you want. Now you know what he wants to see as payment for it." He finished simply.

Severus wanted to grab the shoulders in front of him and shake Harry until his teeth rattled. He could not believe the audacity. He stood up and strode back towards the truck. He was almost there when Harry appeared with an almost silent pop right between the truck and Severus. His forward progress halted, Severus snarled and reached to shove Harry out of his way. He found his hands immobilized at his side. Harry didn't said anything as they stood facing each other. Severus finally felt the anger begin to dissipate. It seemed that Harry knew just when he had regained control of his temper, because his hands were suddenly free to move. He flexed his hands and his wand fell into his hand from his sleeve.

Harry reached out and took his wand arm in his hand, stilling the motion to raise it. "It's alright, really, Severus," Harry spoke quietly. "Gray Thunder has no problem with our magic. In his own way he is as strong as Albus was. He is the grandfather figure of the Hidatsa tribe. He's respected for his knowledge and for his years. He won't be someone who will betray you."

"Are you so certain of that? You apparate as if there is no one else here to see it. There are muggles-"

"Yes, the tribal people around here are what we would consider muggle, or squib at best. But their culture has been to respect the magic of the earth. All things are possible and the supernatural elements in their world are natural to them. Even if they can't do magic, they are raised to respect those that can, without jealousy or fear of it. Our magic is our gift, and they see it as natural for one to use the gifts they are given."

He watched Severus for another few moments before he said, "Let me teach you the spells so you can talk to him. You'll find that the two of you have much in common. Actually, he's like a good blend of you and Albus."

Severus heaved a reluctant breath and then nodded. Harry repeated the spell for understanding and Severus performed it after Harry demonstrated the complicated wand movements. Then they performed the spell for Severus being able to speak the language he was hearing. This was the first time that Severus had caught any sight of Harry's wand. Severus had not been at all sure that he still had one. He had certainly not seen it in evidence when Harry apparated. But the wand was in Harry's hand now, an extension of Harry's magic but obviously not something he found necessary.

The Harry Severus remembered had not been proficient at wandless magic. The potential had certainly been there, but he had not been patient enough for it. It had been all Severus could do to try and teach the brat occlumency. The boy back then had not been apt to practice as he was told. He acted impulsively and sometimes rashly. He was a Gryffindor in every sense of the word. Albus had told him once that the Sorting Hat had wanted to place Harry Potter in Slytherin. Severus had scoffed. That was as unlikely a story as he had ever heard. The golden boy, the hope of the wizarding world, a Slytherin? No way. A Slytherin would never let themselves be used like Harry Potter had been used. A Slytherin would have been much less selfless, would have looked at all the angles and would have gone for the one where his own outcome was assured above all else.

Harry Potter had been so selfless that the world had come to expect no less. The pedestal he was placed on was a slippery one and one that would be impossible to stay up on once the world found out you were only human after all.

The two men walked back to the shelter where Gray Thunder sat patiently smoking. The watery brown eyes peered up at them and he motioned for them to sit down. Harry picked up his own pipe and took a few puffs before speaking.

"Grandfather Gray Thunder, please allow me to introduce this man once again, now that he is able to understand our words."

Gray Thunder nodded and looked at Severus. Harry held out a hand towards Severus. "This good man is Severus Snape, a powerful shaman, a medicine man from my world. He is a great warrior as well and has strong magic and cunning in the ways of war. He has honor. He has borne many wounds for the sake of his people. His heritage is one that extends from his mother's family, a proud house and tribe known as Prince, the name he goes by now."

Harry finally stopped the lengthy introduction, much to Severus's relief. He hesitated to take issue with any of Harry's words, because to do so would put him at a disadvantage and in a bad light.

Harry turned to Severus. "The introduction of one's accomplishments and pedigree are the proper way to show another's worthiness to the chief. Since Gray Thunder is the most senior member of his tribe remaining, and also the religious authority and Medicine Man, he merits detailed introductions of any who seek his favor. Because you are seeking something material from him you are obligated to divulge the information. Sorry if I painted you in too good a light. I figure you really would like to have the plants and things you need." He grinned at Severus.

Severus asked irritably, "Do I get the same favor? Will you tell me his pedigree in return?"

"It's not required. You are on his land, in his home," Harry explained. He looked at Severus expectantly.

Severus asked snidely, "Exactly what would you have me do to- prove myself?"

Harry shrugged. "Your sunny personality certainly won't cut it. Maybe a small demonstration of wandless magic. Something simple. Start a fire." He waved towards a stack of firewood that was ready to be carried into the small house. "Transfigure a piece of wood into your own pipe."

Severus glared at Harry for a moment before turning to the pile of wood. He held out his hand, fingers bent just so, and levitated a few pieces over to a bare spot on the dirt floor. They arranged themselves into a formation for fire, similar to what he would use if he had a potion that had to be brewed over an open flame rather than with a magical flame. A flick of his fingers and a snap and the wood was lit, a small flame burning without hesitation.

Gray Thunder nodded his head and made a waving motion as if to tell Severus to go on, do some more.

Severus levitated another smaller piece of wood over to himself. He looked at the pipes in the hands of the other two men and then waved his hand over the wood. In an instant there was a pipe sitting in the palm of his hand. He held it out to Gray Thunder. The Indian took the pipe and examined it. There were subtle carvings around the bowl and he studied them intently for a moment before looking up and nodding to Severus. He reached into a pouch around his neck and pulled out a pinch of the aromatic tobacco. He placed it into the bowl of the pipe, tamping it down with his thumb. He handed it back to Severus. Severus accio'ed a small twig from his fire. He held the lit end of to the tobacco and inhaled.

Once the pipe was lit he took a few puffs before handing it to Gray Thunder. Gray Thunder took two inhales before passing it to Harry. Harry followed suit and passed it back to Severus.

Gray Thunder spoke and Severus was still surprised that he understood him, even though they had performed the translation spells. "Welcome Severus Snape also known as Prince. Be at peace and enjoy the hospitality of my home and my tribe. You have been given recommendation by our brother Harry Black and we honor him by accepting you in our midst."

Severus followed Harry's lead and the men sat quietly with Gray Thunder and smoked for another good long while. The old man was apparently not in any great hurry to get to the part where Severus would receive the ingredients he had come for.

At last the old man began to stand up and Harry hurried to assist him Gray Thunder nodded his thanks and then took hold of a tall walking stick that had been leaning against a post. It was carved with many symbols and some colorful feathers and beads hung from the top. It became clear that the staff was more than ornamental as the man leaned on it heavily as he began to walk.

Severus followed them to the house. Once inside he was surprised to see two women that he had not seen or heard before. They were sitting at a large loom, weaving cloth of deep reds and greens. They looked up at them and the older one came to Gray Thunder.

"Grandfather, I have food and drink prepared."

"Thank you Grand daughter."

Severus and Harry followed him to a table that had been set with simple plates. There were small platters of hot bread, sliced cheese, and sliced meat. A pitcher of something clear and cold stood beside three glasses.

The men sat down and Gray Thunder motioned for them to serve themselves. While Severus was more than ready to get to business he realized that he was hungry. The simple fare was pleasantly filling.

Once they were done Gray Thunder called to the other woman, "Please go and fetch the cart of my medicines."

The younger woman hurried to obey. In a few moments she was pushing in a large wooden three wheeled cart. Gray Thunder stood up and began opening doors. There were small doors in the sides, in the front and in the back. Severus could smell the aromas of many herbs and dried plants. Gray Thunder motioned him over. The older woman came over carrying a woven basket. With a smile she handed it to Severus.

Gray Thunder began pulling out handfuls of his stores and putting them into plastic bags. He carefully wiped his hands each time before reaching into the next bunch of dried ingredients. Severus was astonished at the variety the old Indian had and at how much he was giving. Nothing was being weighed or measured and Severus knew that some of the ingredients had to be valuable and rare. He had not been asked, nor had he been told how much the stuff would set him back. The basket was full when Gray Thunder closed the last door.

Severus set the basket on the table and pulled out the muggle wallet he now carried. Gray Thunder looked like his name, thunderous, when he saw Severus pull out money. Harry hurried to put a hand on Severus's arm, while addressing Gray Thunder.

"Severus means no disrespect Grandfather. He is unfamiliar with your ways and your generosity. With your permission I would explain."

Gray Thunder gave a curt nod and limped back to his seat at the table.

Harry turned to Severus. "Gray Thunder has accepted you as a kindred spirit. He has no need nor the desire for payment. His medicines are yours to use as you see fit. He would only ask that you remember to do honor to your work and therefore bring honor to him."

Severus looked at Gray Thunder, staring directly into the stern eyes. It seemed like some sort of communication occurred, because Severus and Gray Thunder nodded at the same time and diverted their eyes. Both of the men seemed to relax and Severus gave Gray Thunder another nod as he picked up the now heavy basket.

"I should be getting back to the ranch. Martha is alone with the men."

Harry gave a small snort. "She's safe now that Josh is gone. The guys told me about you taking him to town. He's needed for someone to take him down. I think Neil was reluctant because he 's friends with Josh's dad."

He walked out to the truck with Severus, Gray Thunder following. When Severus placed the basket into the back seat of the cab and turned back Harry said, "I could get you back to the ranch if you want to stay here longer." 

"Apparate? What would I say about the truck not being there in the morning?" Severus asked.

"I can get the truck there too."

Severus had to school his features quickly to keep from gaping. Harry thought that he could apparate the truck too? Harry grinned before shrugging at his obvious disbelief. "Never mind then. Go ahead and drive all two hundred miles back…in the dark… on your own… Don't fall asleep at the wheel." He turned around and went to stand next to Gray Thunder.

Gray Thunder called out to Severus after he had gotten into the truck, "Come back soon, my son. I will lead you on your spiritual journey. It will help you clear the trouble that is left in your soul."

Severus gave him a nod of acknowledgment before starting the truck and driving off.

_**A/N**__: I mean no disrespect and in fact have the utmost respect for all Native American cultures. Their history is rich and there is no way I could ever do it adequate justice here. Please indulge me while I borrow from it where I may, changing around tribal names and locations to suit the purposes of the story. I envision Gray Thunder as an old Medicine Man/Chief, a patriarch of his people. Magic is not an unknown to them. Earth magic, although they do not call it such, is something that is a simple part of daily life. The earth and all it offers is to be cherished and not abused. In return the earth mother blesses her people with a bounty of goods that sustain their lives. If this sounds hokey please forgive my taking liberties in culture and beliefs. I write to enjoy and to impart enjoyment. Read in that spirit. I am not writing a history or anthropology lesson!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Severus cast a reviving spell on himself and took a dose of the Pepper Upper he had in his pack. It was the last vial and he hoped that the ingredients had just procured would be what he needed to make more. He had watched as Gray Thunder had sorted and placed them into the plastic bags, and he thought that he had identified almost all of them. A few had been difficult to see properly as they were being packed, and there were some that were unfamiliar altogether. He assumed that they were plants or herbs that were indigenous to North America. He hoped that he would be able to assess them and substitute them for those items he had run out of. He had found that there were often counterparts in plant biology and there might be some familial similarities.

He arrived back at the ranch just as the sun was peeking over the far edge of distant mountains. He carried the basket into the kitchen where Martha looked at him in surprise. She laid down the spoon she was using to stir a large pan of grits and wiped her hands on her apron.

"I didn't expect you so soon. Did you sleep at all or just drive straight there and back?"

"I felt no need to sleep. I'll catch up later." He put the basket into the small bedroom off the kitchen that had been assigned to him and came back. "Let me help you finish up here." After washing his hands he put the sheet of biscuits into the oven and then took the spoon from Martha.

Martha set the table and Severus was pulling the biscuits from the oven when the men came into the kitchen. He had put the pot of grits on the table and turned to get the coffee when Zag walked in.

He was freshly showered and looked rested. Severus gave him a dark look but Zag only raised an eyebrow at him. The men were animated and discussing whether or not Neil and the other men would be back that day. There were many predictions about what time they would come riding back, driving the herd in front of them.

Martha finally ended the conversation by shooing them out the door, saying, "If they get back this morning you won't be ready if you hang around here gabbing all morning. Get some of those bulls done one more time. The lab results look really good and there were more requests for semen than we anticipated. Get Steamer, Riptide, and Ole Frankie rounded up and you can get specimens this morning and this afternoon. Make sure the near field fences are repaired. Neil said there were a few breaks in the barb wire."

The men all nodded and hurried to get their day started. The required bulls had been sampled and the men were all riding slowly around the fence line tagging areas the needed work when they saw the first of the cattle come over the hills. They were mooing anxiously as they neared the home range and smelled the hay that waited in the troughs near the barn. Mike and Zag hurried to open another bale and spread it into more troughs so the cattle wouldn't bunch up at the few that were ready.

Severus had a huge pot of stew that had been simmering all afternoon, ready for all the men when they had gotten settled back into the ranch. Martha had made several pans of homemade biscuits and cornbread and she began to carry them out to the pavilion.

It seemed that the wind direction changed as the men strode into the pavilion. Mike and a couple of the others reached up and unlatched metal walls that rolled down like garage doors. They closed up one long side and one end and that blocked most of the chill. Severus could see that the entire open air structure would easily be transformed into a large closed one with the changing weather. The fireplace at the end would be lit and could support a large water kettle held by a swinging hook. The stove and oven next to the fireplace would now be sheltered enough to cook for the crew in comfort during the long winter months. He marveled at the muggle technology that was inventive, yet simple. He noticed that Harry was noticing his perusal of the wall system and glared at him briefly before going back to dishing out stew into bowls.

He registered the other set of hands that began helping him and at first he thought that it was Doc. Then he was aware that it was Harry taking the filled bowls from him and carrying them to the tables. When they had all been distributed and only the two of them remained to be served Harry took their bowls and set them down a ways from the others and sat down. Severus sat down with some hesitation and began to eat.

Zag ate a few bites and then in a low voice he said, "I know there's questions you want to ask. There's questions I want to ask of you as well. But I'm not ready yet. If I talk about it all I have to admit that it happened. I'm not ready for that. I like my life right now. I like it in this space, in this place. It's big enough to share… just please… don't be to me what you were before." He looked up at Severus with eyes that were at once beseeching, as young as he had been at Hogwarts, and somehow older than was right. "That's one thing I can't take."

Before Severus could respond Harry had gotten up and carried his bowl over to the large sink. He disappeared out into the darkness that had settled over the ranch. Doc came over and sat down. He had finished his stew and was munching on another biscuit.

"Everything alright?"

Severus nodded. He knew that Doc had seen the brief conversation…if you could call it that, since Severus hadn't had a chance to say anything. He smoothly diverted Doc's attention to another topic, "Did Martha tell Neil about Josh?"

"Actually, the boys couldn't wait to tell him." Doc leaned forward on his elbows and looked at Severus. "They wanted to know if he'll stick by you hauling him off like that or if he'll let him come back." He bent his head to stare at him sternly. "Neil won't like doing it, but he'll stick with you on what happened. That boy has been trouble more than once and Neil has given him plenty of chances after each of those times. He might be friends with the boy's pa, but he'll tell him like it is. Hell, the boy's pa knows what his own son is like. That's why he sent him over here in the first place. He was hoping that working on another ranch for a living would make him appreciate what he had at home." He gave a derisive snort, "The only thing it did was give the boy an audience to brag to about where he came from."

The older man stood up and stretched. "Whelp… guess I'll turn in. It sure will be nice to have my own bed tonight. I'll get up in the morning and drive up to the reservation. You might want to go. I'm going to restock my medicine plants before winter sets in. You might find some you'll be interested in."

Severus stood up too. "I already met Gray Thunder and I think he gave me enough of his stores for both our needs."

Doc looked impressed. "That much must have cost you a pretty penny."

Severus just shrugged. He didn't know if Doc got his medicine herbs and plants for a fee, at cost, or free, but he didn't want the older man to be upset if Severus had gotten an unusual benefit on his first meeting with the Indian. "I plan to start brew- making my teas and remedies-" he used the words that he knew would be acceptable for his potions- "-as soon as I'm sure I'll have enough uninterrupted time. Most of the work requires a good degree of precision."

Doc nodded. "I'd be interested in watching how you do yours up. It's never too late to learn a new trick, that's what I always say. People who get stuck doing the same things the same old way, those people get old before their time."

He hurried away to set his own plate and coffee cup into the sink and then out to the barn. Severus went about the chore of cleaning up the aftermath of supper. As he stood there scrubbing dishes he silently mused on how far he had come. Ten years ago, if someone had told him that he would be washing dishes, preparing food and brewing simple potions in a small farm house kitchen, he would have given them a sharp glare and an uncharacteristic laugh before hexing that someone with a foaming mouth hex that would have taken days to wear off.

Now, here he was, acting a perfect muggle, if not a bit eccentric by their standards. People had often looked at him suspiciously, as he noted they did with anyone who had long hair and wore clothing that was out of their comfort zone. He was obviously an older man, but his perpetual wearing of dark colors and black seemed to discomfit people. His voice was deep, but was now roughened and raspy with the curse scars left by Nagini. He had shown the scars to very few people, but when he had it had the effect of making them stop asking questions altogether. Muggles did sometimes have a decent sense of propriety it seemed, not snooping into areas where it might be embarrassing or uncomfortable for him. A single mention of 'war' appeared to be enough to explain his injuries. There were so many wars around the world that there was never any question about which war he had received his injuries in. Doc and Neil were the only ones he had needed to go into any detail with, and they had been satisfied with his 'small civil war' explanation.

He finished the dishes, then set to washing out the huge pots and coffee urn so they would be ready for the breakfast run. He planned to start the lunch soup after breakfast, giving Doc a break from cooking, since he had been cooking out on the range for the last few days.

Severus sat out on the porch watching the stars come out and listening to the men in the bunkhouse catching up on what had happened on the cattle drive and what had happened here with Josh. He heard most of them express satisfaction that Josh was gone, and outright glee at how he had been ousted. He smirked when one of them commented about how "mean that Severus dude was", and another said, "those black eyes can see right through a man!" Another mumbled about how different people from across the ocean could be.

He wondered if Zag would join him but he never showed up. There was calmness in the night, and the air was turning cooler quicker. It was a drier cool, not like the moist and often muggy cool of Scotland. He stayed on the porch, thinking of Zag's words to him, how he was seemingly afraid that Severus would be as he was before…. Before, as in when he was a professor and criticizing everything the boy did or did not do in the classroom? Or before as in when he was training Harry in Occlumency, Legillimency, defensive spellwork, strategy, forcing him to learn how to think in fractions of a second because his life and the lives around him depended on it… he had been a bastard to the boy and to the young man. He had written it off as needing to be so, needing to make him tougher, less Gryffindor, less like James, less impulsive and emotional. He had done it even when he had caught glimpses of pain in those eyes that were so like Lily's eyes. He had even scoffed at those looks of distress, unwilling to bend or soften towards Harry Potter, the Chosen One, The Boy Who Lived, The Saviour. He spent a long time mulling over the past and how it affected this present time, how it would continue to effect the future.

They were both hiding from their past here. Both of them had somehow gravitated to this wide open space where they were able to learn new ways of living amongst muggle cowboys. It was really quite extraordinary that they had both come almost halfway around the world and out of all the possibilities they wound up in the exact same place. As much as he had detested Sybil Trelawney and her foretelling drivel, he did have some respect for things that were more than coincidental.

Clearly, there was something going on with Harry Potter, known here as Zag,. Clearly, he was reluctant to share that with someone who had known him both at his best and his worst. Clearly, he believed that it was something that might affect the way Severus saw him. Right now, Severus was intrigued, in spite of himself. He resolved that he would discover what the 'something' was, before Zag decided to finally tell him. He had a feeling that whatever it was, it was terribly important. It was something that was larger than anything that he had known before. A shiver coursed down his spine as he contemplated that. Bigger than Voldemort? Bigger than a megalomaniac's intent to obliterate and rule? Bigger than the expectation an entire civilization had for a teenager to save them all from that?

The spy had awakened from a long respite.

The men stumbled out to a full breakfast in the morning. The half dozen that had been on the drive worked the bulls just brought in. The ones who had been on the ranch went to work repairing the fence areas that had been marked. Neil was speaking to Doc in a low voice , shaking his head, before coming to sit across from where Severus was finishing the last of his coffee before cleaning up. He just looked at Severus for several long minutes before shaking his head.

"I've already talked to the boys and Martha, so I know what happened. Josh has been a hot head ever since he got here. I always knew I'd have to have it out with him and his dad sooner or later." He considered Severus for another bit before saying, "You haven't been here long enough to have any problems with him, so his dad is going to ask why you jumped to get rid of him so fast, without any warnings, or second chances."

Severus drained his cup and set it down before answering, "I know his type. He's a bully who feeds on his ability to intimidate others. He believes he has a right to behave as he does, as he places his own needs and even his name above anyone else's. He thinks he is better and no matter what he does he believes that he is above being called on it. He is walking trouble. I did't need to know that he won't answer to warnings, and second chances will only increase his thinking that he won't have any repercussions for his actions. When he put himself in the position of boss and supervisor immediately after you had specifically said that no one was needed to be in charge, I decided to take action before it escalated." He swallowed with a grimace at how the long speech had irritated his throat.

Neil considered what Severus said and then got up and walked out without another word. He heard the truck start and heard it drive away.

Severus cleaned up the breakfast dishes, pots and pans and then got the lunch soup on. He was cooking again since Doc had been cooking from the chuck wagon while they had been on the drive. He would resume his alternating duties with Severus in the next day or two. At the moment, Severus was looking forward to getting the soup to simmering so he could brew a few potions. It would be difficult if Doc joined him, to use any magic, but he thought that he would be able to do a bit with a few well-placed memory spells, or being quick when Doc wasn't there.

In an hour he had the soup simmering on low on the cook top in the pavilion. Doc wandered into the kitchen in the house as Severus separated out the herbs he needed from the basket. He gave a low whistle at the size of the basket, and at the array of ingredients spread out on the long kitchen table.

"That's more than I've ever seen in one place. Gray Thunder always brought mine out to me in those little wax paper packets." He looked at Severus and searched his face before nodding. "He likes you. He's asked you to take a spiritual journey, hasn't he."

Severus continued his work, answering, "He said something about it as I was leaving."

Doc poked through the packets, lifting some up to smell of them. He said, "I think Zag has been out there and Gray Thunder has counseled with him. He never has said so, but one time he was gone for awhile and when he came back he was much more confident around the boys, much more comfortable, if you can understand that."

Severus nodded. "Yes. Gray Thunder did seem capable of being a mentor of sorts." He did not mention that Zag had been there when he was. It seemed as if that might be breaking some sort of unspoken trust with Harry and he found himself reluctant to do that. That Doc would notice this about Zag and Gray Thunder was another clue to hold on to in his search for what was going on with Zag.

He carefully measured out the ingredients that he needed, laying them in the required order on the counter. He had found a cast iron soup pot among the myriad of such things in the kitchen and had deemed it a fit substitute for a cauldron, at least for this particular potion. The iron in the pot would actually enhance the effects of the Pepper Up he was brewing. That wouldn't be the case with other potions; he would use the stainless steel pot for some of them and he had even found a glass double boiler that would suit as a neutral container for the more fussy potions.

Doc settled himself onto a kitchen stool to watch as Severus boiled the water he had put into the iron pot. He remained quiet as Severus mentally timed each addition of ingredient, years of practice and experience making it possible to do without a magical timer. If Doc noted the careful directions of stirring and the exact number of stirs following each addition, he didn't comment. When Severus got close to the moment he needed to use magic he looked at Doc.

"Would you mind checking on the soup in the pavilion? I left it on quite low but I would hate for it to get too low on water and scorch."

Doc immediately nodded and left for the outdoor kitchen area. As soon as he left Severus withdrew his wand from where he kept it in his sleeve. He muttered the required incantations, stirring the potion with the tip of his wand. He had put the wand away and had the potion off the flame to cool when Doc got back.

Doc came over and looked into the pot and sniffed. "That's the prettiest tonic I believe I've ever seen, even if it don't smell too good."

Severus smirked, "It' has always intrigued me that people would rather a tonic or tea taste better and possibly lose its effectiveness when it's made that way."

Doc nodded. "Yep. That's people for you. I guess something that tastes good to them helps them in some way feel better."

The men enjoyed a cup of tea while waiting for the 'tonic' to cool enough to be bottled. Severus raised an eyebrow in surprise when Doc readily accepted a cup of Earl Grey when it was offered. Doc just shrugged, "I really like the taste of tea better than coffee. There's never time to make both and all the others were raised to like coffee. The one time I made tea instead it almost caused a riot. I'm glad that you and I can enjoy it occasionally. Martha likes it too."

At that moment the lady mentioned came into the kitchen. She got down her own cup right away when she smelled the delicate fragrance of the Earl Grey. "It's been forever since I sat down to drink honest to goodness tea!" She took a sip and exclaimed, "This is wonderful. Severus, you certainly have a touch to making tea. Is it the British in you?"

"I suppose it is. I learned to make a proper tea at a young age. Most people don't realize that you have to make it correctly to get the best flavor."

They sat there, enjoying the mundane pleasure of tea, a bit of time to be at leisure. Severus had just stood up to rinse out his cup when Mike came barreling into the kitchen. He was out of breath from running.

"Doc! Come quick! Rattlesnake bite!"

Doc moved fast, his stool clattering to the floor in his haste. Martha was running after him and they were each asking each other who had the snake bite kit last.

Severus had only read about the venomous rattlesnake when he had been researching antivenin formulations years before. He remembered that this was the deadliest of the snakes in North America. He went to his own room and withdrew the shrunken pack of potions from under his bed. He had kept his small supply of the antivenin made to counteract Nagini's venom, never feeling free of needing to have it nearby in case another murderous psychopath decided to use a similar venom or poison for nefarious bids for power. He had worked for years to develop this special antivenin. Once he had seen the familiar of the Dark Lord he had known that her special brand of death would be in play before the end. He had not been certain that he himself would be a target until almost the very end. Once he had the strong suspicions he began dosing himself with the antivenin in increasing increments. He was unsure if it would save him but had felt it worth the effort.

When he was lying on the floor of the Shrieking Shack he had been certain that it had been for naught. He felt the venom as it bubbled across his skin, burning with a pain that was almost more than the burning from the teeth that had torn open his throat. The blood from the wounds had felt hot as his tissues grew cold. His vision swam as he saw the Dark Lord leave with the other death eaters. He was mentally lamenting this end when Potter and his friends had suddenly been there over him. He had instantly began trying to get Potter to receive the memories that would tell him what he needed to know to finish the battle. At the time he had had no inkling that Potter would use them later to exonerate him of his crimes against the Wizarding world. In fact, when Abe had told him that he was considered a hero of the war he had been as shocked as he had ever been in his life. If he had wanted to he could have come back from the dead and attained any Potions position he desired. But the time of recovery had reinforced his firm determination to remain 'dead' to that world and make his own way. He would live his life as he saw fit, not in debt to anyone, not a spy, not a slave to someone else's ambitions.

He held the small vial up and looked at it in the light. The thick amber ran slowly up the sides of the glass as he tipped it. He drew out another small vial and poured up a single dose to cap and tuck into his pocket. If it was needed he would have it ready.

He went outside and found that the men in the barn were streaming out to mount their horses. Doc and Martha were already mounted and heading out towards the fenced range. Severus quickly saddled his own horse and rode out, following the cloud of dust left behind the other riders.

When he got to the scene he saw two men on the ground, Doc and Martha were pushing their way through the men hovering over them. The other men were attempting to drive off several large rattlesnakes that were furiously rattling their tails and sluggishly striking out at them.

One was using his lasso to sweep them away while some were using long sticks found on the ground. Mike had a pistol out and was taking aim at the biggest one. Then Severus saw that Harry was one of the men down and he was sitting up, holding out a hand to Mike.

"No! Don't shoot it! They're just scared!" Mike looked at Zag with his mouth open in disbelief, but he stopped taking aim.

Neil had also drawn his gun and he looked at Zag. "They were denning, Zag. They're being protective of their territory and they won't back down. We have to do something to drive them away until we can get the two of you out of here."

"Wait! Let me-" and then Severus heard the hissing sound that he had only heard once before during that dueling class the idiot Lockhart had held in Harry's second year. The other men froze when the sound came from Zag's mouth. The snakes froze in their movements as well, although the largest hissed back at Zag in what Severus assumed was some kind of response.

After a few more hissed exchanges the snakes slowly slithered away from the group of men. Harry laid back down with a wince. Doc finally shook himself and bent back over Zag's leg.

"I'll be wanting to know how you did that, son. For now lay still so I can get a look at the bite."

Martha was bending over the leg of Rick, the other bitten man. His face was ashen, lips already turning blue as he shook. It was evident that he had gotten a large dose of venom in his bite. Martha pulled out a syringe, uncapped it, and jabbed the needle into Rick's thigh, pressing the plunger.

"He's bad off. We only have this one dose of antivenin. It wasn't on the list to get more while the men were in town. She looked over at Zag with panic and then back down at Rick.

Severus pushed his way to Zag's side. Green eyes looked up at him. They were getting glassy and sweat had broken out on his brow. Severus pulled the small vial from his pocket and held it up for Zag to see. "I have this. You remember it I think." He silently willed Harry to remember form the memory strands that Severus had suspected Nagini and had been taking the antivenin.

Harry stared up at him and then gave a barely perceptible nod. Severus unstoppered the vial and slowly poured the minute contents into Zag's mouth. After a small grimace his face relaxed. Then with his eyes rolling up in his head he went totally limp there in the dirt.

This had the effect of galvanizing everyone into action. The men who were now watching instead of having to drive away snakes exclaimed loudly.

"Is he dead?"

"What did you give him?"

"I'll go get the truck to carry 'em back…"

"Do we need a helicopter?"

The comments and questions swirled all around until Neil shouted, "Quiet!"

When everyone was looking at him he gave some orders for a couple of the men to ride back to the ranch and get the truck, remembering to throw in some blankets to pad the back for the two men to lay on. Then he turned to some of the others,

"There's nothing you can do by standing around staring at them. Your prayers will be heard just as well with you finishing these repairs. There's storms in the forecast and we need to be sure the fences are secure."

They all looked reluctant and he added, "Two of you stay right here to help get them into the truck."

That seemed to help get them moving; as long as they weren't all sent away to wonder what was happening. They each decided what it was they would be doing and smoothly went about doing the jobs needed.

When it had quieted down somewhat, Doc looked at Severus and nodded towards the vial that was now laying on the ground beside Zag. "What is that?"

Severus inwardly grimaced, realizing that he was going to have to answer at least somewhat truthfully. If he had his way he would obliviate the lot of them and be done with it. He did not know what to say about Zag's hissing to the snakes and he hoped those questions could wait, or by some miracle be forgotten.

"It is an antivenin formula of my own."

Doc just stared at him, his mouth slightly open. He looked like there was a lot, quite a lot, that he wanted to say, but he snapped his mouth shut and went back to observing Rick. That man was looking a little better at the moment, but Severus knew from his readings about venomous snakes that he would be needing more antivenin. His bite was swollen and discolored, already turning the bluish black of dying tissue around the twin holes.

Severus looked back down at Harryand restrained himself from smoothing a hand over the sweaty black hair. His breathing was even, but he could see the erratic pulse beat in his neck. Nagini's antivenin should be effective. He would just have to hope that the man didn't jump up and act fully healed before he thought about what that would look like to these muggles. It would be hard enough to explain how he knew what the snakes were saying and how he had gotten them to slither away.

In a few more minutes the sound of the approaching truck reached their ears. It came slowly over the uneven ground as Mike picked out the best way on land that had no trail or road.

It finally pulled up beside them and Neil hopped into the back to help spread the blankets and sleeping bags out. Mike had thought to throw in pillows so those were put into the places where the men would be laying.

They carefully lifted the two injured men into the truck, arranging them side by side. Severus and Martha climbed in and each of them held the head and shoulders of one of the men. The leg that each of them had been bitten on was laid on extra pillows so it wouldn't be jostled too much.

Severus was glad that Harry was unconscious so that he couldn't protest the trip to town to the hospital. The portion of the trip back over the ranch land was rough, the two men moaning as they were thrown from side to side, even with the others trying to protect them and Mike driving very slowly. It was a relief to them all to reach the ranch itself and drive back onto even dirt.

Neil directed the extra men who came with them to continue the work in the barns and pens. There was no need for all of them to ride to the hospital. The work on the ranch had to go on.

_**A/N**__: Thank you for reading and especially for all the reviews! FFNet has been wonky and many stories have faced delayed updates because of error messages the author gets when trying to add chapters. If you are one of those, you can get into your site by changing the word 'property' in the url to 'content', when you get that annoying error should help you, as it worked for me!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Mike drove as Doc rode shotgun and Martha and Severus stayed in the bed of the truck with Rick and Zag.

They had to stop for gas once before they reached the small town medical clinic that served as a small hospital. If they needed to, they could then call a helicopter to transport the men to Cheyenne. Severus thought that Harry looked fairly comfortable next to a shivering and moaning Rick. He could have been sleeping for all the ride seemed to bother him. He wished for perhaps the hundredth time that he could pull out his wand and assess the snake bites and the damage to both men.

Neil had called ahead and the clinic was ready with IV antivenin set up along side two hospital beds. They were quickly set up and examined by the lone doctor on duty. Everyone was shuffled out of the emergency room and into a tiny waiting area furnished with mismatched and worn chairs.

After the doctor had seen to each man and ordered additional medications and blood transfusions, he came out to the four people waiting. He gave Severus a curious glance, since he had never seen him before.

"I believe that they'll be alright. It might be a few days before we know the extent of the damage to the tissues in the bite areas. We'll begin the debriding process as needed. Both of them seem strong, and right now there doesn't appear to be any danger of further anaphylaxis. I've ordered blood transfusions as the bites are hemotoxic as you know. They are bleeding into the tissues surrounding the bites and will need blood to counteract that.

Severus was alarmed by that. Muggle blood introduced into Harry's body could have serious repercussions. He stepped forward, "I understand your concerns. However, I believe that Mr. Po—Mr. Black will have some anxiety about receiving blood. If there is any way to avoid that…" he left the rest hanging, frowning at almost saying the wrong name.

"Does he have particular cultural or religious objections to blood products?" the doctor asked carefully.

Severus considered the question for a moment and then answered, "I believe that would be an adequate explanation for his reluctance."

The doctor cocked his head, looking closely at Severus, and asked, "Your relationship to Mr. Black would be…?"

"An old acquaintance who is familiar with his attitudes on certain things." Severus answered simply and with an air of impatience.

"What would his response be if his condition deteriorates to the point where a transfusion is not an option but a necessity?" The doctor held a clipboard and was writing as he waited for Severus to answer. He looked up at Severus again when he did not answer right away.

"Hopefully it will not come down to that. I will have to trust that your skills are sufficient to see that we will not need to make that determination." Severus glared at the doctor before turning away to look out a window in the waiting area. Behind him he heard the doctor continue to address Neil, Martha, Mike and Doc.

"Rick is in considerably worse condition at the moment. I am certain he would not have survived the trip here without the initial dose of antivenin. He definitely needs a transfusion as the hemotoxicity has disrupted his circulatory system big time. As far as Zag is concerned, we can wait on making a final decision about the transfusion. He seems the less injured of the two. But I can't promise he will stay that way. He could have a delayed reaction and it will absolutely be necessary to save his life."

Severus couldn't make out what Martha and Doc's response was to that and finally the doctor left.

Doc joined Severus at the window. The other two disappeared down the hall in search of coffee.

"You seem pretty sure about how Zag feels about getting blood." Doc gave Severus a searching look.

"I am," Severus agreed, seeing no point in denying it.

"Can I ask why? I mean, I know there's people who don't believe in taking other people's blood, that it's wrong. But surely he wouldn't NOT get it if it means living?"

"Some things could be worse than death." He thought about the way the man's magical core would short out, how the painful changes would leave him a squib, but with the foreign blood remaining in constant battle in his system, weakening him, making him susceptible to muggle diseases and unable to utilize muggle remedies to fix them. He could not voice all this of course, so he turned to Doc and said, "You must trust that I know what I am talking about. The blood might save his life now, but it would kill him in the end."

"Okay then." Doc narrowed his eyes and abruptly asked, "Let me ask why you almost called the boy by another name. I'm beginning to think we don't know ya'll at all."

Martha and Mike came back at that moment and handed both Doc and Severus each an extra cup. Thankfully, Doc dropped the subject that he had started, but he gave Severus a look that promised that he would revisit again later.

A couple of hours passed and they sat in silence. Just when Severus was about to lose patience and insist on seeing Harry himself, the doctor came out. He wasted no time and went straight into his explanations.

"Rick is stabilizing. We had to give two more doses of antivenin. I believe he had the most venom injected with his bite. He's also getting blood right now, as his clotting times are way down and he's bleeding into the tissues around the bite. We've had to make some cut downs due to the swelling to keep the tissues from being so strangled they die even more. He'll make it, but he's pretty sick. It'll be awhile before he sits in the saddle again."

He turned to Severus to address the state of Zag, something Severus found interesting. Somehow he had become the spokesperson for Zag, and the one anything was cleared with. He found that settled his nerves somewhat.

"Zag's real name is Harry Black, so I will be addressing him as Harry." Severus nodded in agreement and with some relief. He hated the nick name Zag. It belittled something that had been a symbol for the side of the Light and a sign of the sacrifice Lily had made for her son.

"Harry seems to be in much better shape than I expected. I understand that you had a type of antivenin that you administered by mouth?" At Severus's nod, he said, "I'd like to see that. I've never heard of that, even in the latest literature." Severus was very glad that the doctor stopped asking about the antivenin in favor of discussing Harry. "Thankfully, he does not appear to be needing any blood replacement products, since you are so insistent that he would be adverse to it. His wounds seem to be minor and perhaps very little venom was actually injected. He does not exhibit the physical symptoms of a major attack. However…" he trailed off and something in his voice had Severus narrowing his eyes.

The doctor cleared his throat and continued, "At the moment he appears to be in a coma. Normally rattlesnake venom is not neurotoxic, although there are some species of rattlers whose venom is neurotoxic. I have to ask if anyone saw a rattler that was different from the others. Maybe somehow a different one found its way into the mix."

Mike spoke up, "I'll call the ranch. Maybe one of the others noticed something different… " Then he shook his head. "Except for Zag hissing back at that big one I was about to shoot, I didn't notice anything different. We broke through a den when we were digging a post hole and they just swarmed out all over us." His voice got a little hysterical as he remembered the incident. "We were all trying to jump away and I think Rick's leg broke through the den too as he tried to run. Zag was pulling him free and dragging him away when he got struck."

The others had listened as Mike told the story of what happened, Martha with a hand over her mouth and Doc giving a low whistle when Mike got to the part about Rick's leg going through the roof of the den. It must have been a shallow burrow that had been abandoned by ground squirrels or prairie dogs. This time of the year the snakes were getting ready to hibernate and would den up in tangles of many snakes in these areas where they could safely winter. That they had already done so was yet another sign that it might be an early and hard winter.

Severus pulled the doctor aside. "May I see Harry?"

"He won't know that you're there."

"Still… I'd like to see him for myself." Severus gave the doctor as stern a glare as he thought that he could get by with. He had found that most American medical people had some kind of power trip about being the ultimate authority and the last say in what was and what wasn't the right thing to do. He was fortunate that his experiences had ended well and that he had learned how you needed to talk to these people to get what you wanted without the use of magic. There had been times when he would have given anything to hex one of the egotistical men.

The doctor pursed his lips and finally nodded. "Just for a few minutes. I'll be running some more tests in a few hours if he doesn't come around."

Severus followed him back to a small area where the two men lay almost side by side with a curtain partially drawn between them. Both of them were hooked up to machines that monitored their heart rates and respiration and those were emitting soft beeps. Both had oxygen tubing running from their noses to the bubbling bottles on the wall. Both had IV's attached to their arms, Harry's running with clear fluid and Rick's with the addition of a bag of dark red blood running into his. The bitten areas were exposed and the skin had been marked with a pen to show successive areas of swelling. Rick's skin had been incised as the doctor had described. The tissues were so swollen and grotesque that it was difficult to believe that they would ever get anywhere near back to normal.

He turned away from Rick after that cursory examination and focused on Harry. He was laying there peacefully, his breathing regular and his heartbeat a little below normal. The place on his leg showed only the two swollen and reddened punctures from the snake's fangs. The swelling was nothing compared to the swelling on Rick's leg.

"I would expect his heart rate to be elevated, even in a coma, due to any bit of venom and the stress to his system. As you can see, it's quite low at the moment." He looked at Severus as if he might have an explanation for this. Severus remained silent, sending out a strong desire that the doctor have something else to attend to if just for a few moments.

A nurse came around the curtain and handed the doctor a clipboard and began asking some questions about orders for another patient. With a sigh the doctor turned and followed her out, saying over his shoulder as he went, "Don't forget, only a few minutes."

Severus nodded and as soon as he was out of sight he pulled the curtain between the beds further along for more privacy and let his wand drop from his sleeve and into his hand. He cast several diagnostics, storing the results back in the wand until he had a moment to look at them. He had a feeling that this 'coma' was what he would have termed a 'healing sleep'. That Harry would have put himself into it was unusual, as it would normally have been done by a mediwitch or mediwizard when the body needed to be quiet and allow potions to do their work and spells to have time to take effect for whatever injuries were being attended to. Harry would have to have achieved an extraordinary level of control over his own magic to self-induce a healing sleep, especially under circumstances where the body of the wizard was being maximally stressed.

He peered down at Harry and laid a hand on his brow, smoothing back the black hair to reveal the lightning bolt scar. "What's going on with you, Harry?" he murmured. "What is going on with you and why are you hiding it from me?"

The doctor came back, pushing the curtain aside with a swoosh of the sound of metal rings holding it to the rod. He looked at the hand Severus held to Harry's head and then up to Severus's face.

"I spoke briefly to Martha and Doc about you, Mr. Prince. They hold you in high regard for what you did the other day." He picked up the clipboard on the table beside Harry's bed and jotted a note after checking the monitors. Without looking up he added, "I am very interested in how you acquired the oral antivenin you used."

Severus remained silent and the doctor finally looked up from the chart. Severus had stiffened when the antivenin was brought up again. He barely moved his facial muscles to respond simply, "It was something I had on hand. I can't recall where I came across it, but it seemed as if it might come in handy sometime."

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "Mm-hmm," he said skeptically. "Well, if you remember anything about it, please let me know? It could have a bearing on his mental state right now."

Severus started to relax and walk out of the room when the doctor spoke again, "I understand you and Harry both came from England. It's a pretty small country, although the population is higher than some may realize."

Severus turned to raise an eyebrow back at the doctor. To his surprise, the doctor gave him a curious sort of smirk. Then, "I don't suppose you would be acquainted with some relatives of mine. Of course, they go by the original family name and my father shortened it when he came here before I was born."

Severus looked down at the doctor's nametag where it read Thomas Green, M.D. A feeling of dread began to grow in his gut. Surely not…

"My grandfather was Thomas Greengrass." He was carefully watching Severus's reaction. "He had two sons. One son married and had two daughters, Daphne and Amanda. He was the younger of them and became the heir when it became apparent that my father could not be the heir. My father, the oldest son, was Richard Greengrass. He was hidden from society when it was clear that he did not fit into the society of his parents. Eventually, he came to the United States, got married and had me." Dr. Green was looking at Severus intently, as if he expected Severus to say something.

Severus had felt a flash of fear that he quickly squashed. Thomas Greengrass had been a Dark sympathizer. But he had died in Azkaban before the war was over. His son Terrence Greengrass had been smart enough to remain neutral. This was the first Severus knew of a brother who was older and, it appeared, was a squib. That wasn't unusual in pure blood families. If they had a squib it was often placed in muggle boarding schools as soon as it was old enough, and was never, ever, mentioned in 'polite' society.

He gave a reserved sneer to the good doctor. "You certainly know your family history. But why that would be relevant -"

"I know enough that I know you are no mere muggle," Dr. Green interrupted, "but are in fact the notorious Severus _Snape_, not Prince. I know enough that I know you are a Potions Master of renown and that you were both a spy for the Light and a pawn for it as well."

"You seem to know quite a lot more than your own family history," Severus bit out.

"I was able to meet my cousin Daphne once and we hit it off very well. She saw no reason not to tell me all about my family. It was fascinating to me and I was always a bit envious. She knew I was deeply interested and she would send me books that fed my imagination about the world to which I was denied access. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that my copy of Hogwarts, A History had updated to read of Harry Potter's disappearance. As soon as I saw him the first time he was brought here I saw the scar and I knew it was him. I don't blame him at all for changing his last name. It's a good plan, even if you never know when you might run into someone who can figure out your secrets."

"Indeed."

Dr. Green leaned against the door casually. "I saw you in town the other day. You looked familiar and when I looked at the book I knew at once that you were the supposed dead Severus Snape."

"You know more than you should, Doctor." Severus's voice was calm, but held a decidedly threatening undertone.

"I hope that's not a threat, Mr. Snape. Because, without my corroboration, it might have been insisted that Harry get a blood transfusion, just as a matter of course for the treatment of rattlesnake bite. I know enough from my own reading and research into the wizarding world that such a transfusion could be deadly for him. I know that the antivenin you used was probably one of your own making."

He looked at Severus's closed expression and added, "Don't worry. I'm not after anything you don't choose to give. It will be a refreshing change and a challenge to deal with wizards. I'm sure that it will be refreshing for the two of you not to have to hide that information from someone here."

Severus doubted that, and he chose to reserve a well placed Obliviate until such a time as the doctor's lips were too loose for the good of all concerned.

He went down the hall to a small restroom. Once locked inside he cast a reveal on the scan results he had stored in his wand. They hovered there against the wall and Severus narrowed his eyes at the results displayed. If Harry had been aware of this, it would explain why he had left the wizarding world. It would explain why he could not share it with Severus. He probably knew that things were way out of kilter for a normal wizard but he had not known how to deal with it without incurring even more unwanted attention and fame. He debated whether or not to share any of the information with the doctor and then thought that a small amount of it would help him decide how to finish treating Harry and what to expect.

Dr. Green was still at the men's bedside when he walked back down the hall. He looked at Severus and Severus drew the curtain around Harry's bed before withdrawing his wand. Dr. Green looked at it with fascination and question but his jaw dropped even more when Severus cast the limited scan results and they were suddenly floating there in the air. He cast a quick privacy and silencing spell and quickly explained what they were seeing.

They both looked at the numbers and Dr. Green looked down at Harry and then back at Severus. "It looks like he is healing himself, if I understand these correctly," he said as he gestured with a hand at the display.

"Yes," Severus agreed. "But even as a wizard, he should still need intervention to accomplish it. Wizards rarely can heal themselves because of the magic being drained from the same place to heal as is injured. Perhaps some are successful with minor injuries, but not with the major injuries he has received lately."

"So, he is not really adverse to hospitals and doctors per say, but rather whatever they do to help him would probably not be necessary at all."

"Someone would see him spontaneously healing and it would be seen as an impossibility. He got away from our world because of the excessive attention. It would start all over again in this one, plus it would be likely to expose our world to muggles who would be frightened of what it could mean to them."

Dr. Green looked at Severus. His expression was grim. "I'm afraid that I don't know nearly enough to be able to adequately see to his care."

Severus shook his head. "I believe that it is not so much the care that he needs but the time and space in which to do it without interference or arousing suspicions. Your assistance in downplaying the extent of his injuries could go a long way to protect him from that."

The doctor nodded. "Alright. I can explain that he got only a small amount of venom, but how do I explain the coma?"

"Let's just say that he is more sensitive to the little bit of venom received. The injuries don't look as bad on the outside but it created a fatigue reaction in his system."

"Yes, that might work." He looked down at the man in front of them as Severus waved away the data that had been hanging in the air. "I apologize if you thought that I was in any way threatening you before. I was once very jealous that I was not part of the magical end of the family tree. But I have read about my great grandfather and about Voldemort. My kind would have been exterminated if they had succeeded in their endeavors."

Severus nodded. He placed a hand on Harry's head and looked at the doctor, "If you would allow me, I can attempt to get into his mind. He may block it, but if not I may gain more insight to what is going on in him."

"Go ahead. Is it safe to do it here and now?" he asked looking towards the curtains.

"I took the liberty earlier of casting spells to keep unwanted attention at bay. No one will come in here or hear us until I lift them."

With his thumbs on Harry's eyes and his hands braced on either side of his face, he raised the eyelids and looked into the green orbs. "Legillimense!"

Immediately, he was hurled out of Harry's mind with such force that he was on his back across the room, having been sent to slam against the wall. Dr. Green cursed softly as he assisted Severus to his feet. "What happened?" he asked.

Severus brushed off his clothes as he walked back to the edge of the bed. He just shook his head and answered, "I am unable to get into his mind. That's not an unusual occurrence. He had quite the ability to repel attacks of his mind and it likely saw my intrusion as an attack."

Dr. Green nodded his acceptance and then stuck out his hand. "I think it's time we were on a first name basis, don't you? Hello, my name is Tom Green."

Severus looked at the outstretched hand for a moment before grasping it. "Severus Prince. I am glad you are not the kind of man I once knew who was also named Tom."

Tom looked at him quizzically and Severus added, "The Dark Lord Voldemort…his name before he elevated himself to such was Tom Riddle."

Tom Green took a deep breath and nodded. "Me too, then. I'm glad I'm not like him, I mean."

At that moment they heard a soft sigh from Harry and they both moved closer.

"Snape… Severus…" he sighed softly again.

Severus moved closer, bending down. Harry lifted his hand as if searching for him and Severus caught it in his. "I'm here. You are safe." It seemed important that Harry know that from the start.

The younger man gripped his hand tightly and grimaced. "My bones hurt…"

Severus took out his wand again and waved it in another scanning pattern. He looked at it and Tom asked, "What does that mean?" pointing at a particular spike in a series of small swells in the reading.

Severus frowned. "His core is straining itself for some reason. It's almost too much for it to be contained."

Harry opened his eyes and stared up at him. "It is too much. It's grown too big… I need…"

He closed his eyes again and swallowed before turning his face away. Severus squeezed the hand still holding his. "What? What do you need? What can I do?"

"Gray Thunder knows… he knows…he can help…" His voice slurred as if he was falling asleep again and then he was once again unconscious.

Severus withdrew his hand from Harry's grip, smoothing his long fingers through the hair on Harry's head before he looked at Tom. "I'll go. It might take me awhile, but in the meantime just keep him comfortable. No muggle medications. No blood."

Tom nodded. "Do you think this Gray Thunder can really help? Isn't he that old Indian up on the reservation?"

"Yes. I met him the other day. He is not a wizard, but he may have what is known as elemental magic; a connection with things naturally magic, like the earth itself."

Tom nodded, "I've heard that he is a Medicine Man for the tribe. I thought it was just tradition, but after thinking about what I know is possible, I can see that."

Severus glanced once more at the still form on the bed then nodded to Tom.

Severus strode down the hall towards the waiting room. Martha came up to him, concern on her face. Doc and Mike looked at him expectantly.

"I have an errand to do. It won't take long. They are both stable at the moment. Dr. Green has it well in hand." He started away and Doc rose up and stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Where are you going? What can I do?"

Severus stared at him intently for a few moments. Doc felt a slight buzzing in his head that he shook away. Severus spoke quietly, "Walk with me so we can talk as I go."

Once they were outside the hospital Severus stopped and turned to Doc. "I need to find the Indian Gray Thunder. He has something that may help Harry… Zag. There is too much to explain right now, but trust me when I say that anything you might see, hear, or figure out is for your eyes and ears only. Harry has a…condition… one that requires special treatment. Gray Thunder can help provide what he needs."

"What is it that he needs?" Doc asked in confusion. "Surely whatever Zag needs he can get right here at the hospital, or they can get it here quick from Cheyenne."

"I can't explain it all now. But I need your help in keeping everyone else from asking questions. This is something that Harry will not want known by everyone. Can we trust you to keep whatever you hear or see private?"

Doc readily agreed. "This has something to do with ya'll knowing each other from before, doesn't it?"

"Yes." Severus answered simply.

"Then I will keep it to myself. I can't imagine that anything that's wrong with the boy is anybody else's business anyway."

"Thank you. If you could go back in now, and keep it all calm?" Severus could tell that the old man felt important at having been trusted with what he perceived as being an important job. Doc nodded and stalked back into the hospital. Severus quickly walked around a corner to a place sheltered by some tall shrubbery. Visualizing Gray Thunder's small shelter he spun on the spot and apparated with a small popping sound.

_**A/N**__: Okay…I am now rethinking the rest of the storyline and that could be a dangerous thing! Don't shoot me if things don't happen very quickly! Thank you all for reading, posting reviews (which I LOVE!) and for adding me to your alerts! Real life has been somewhat discouraging lately so this fantasy world has really helped sooth things. Thank you for making it even better!_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

He appeared right beside the small structure. Gray Thunder was sitting cross legged, smoking his pipe as before. If he was startled by Severus popping into existence right before him he didn't show it. That told Severus that he had seen Harry do it before and that it was not an unexpected occurrence.

He ducked his head to enter and sat down in front of Gray Thunder. He spoke quickly, "Harry has been bitten by a rattlesnake. I gave him an antivenin that I had and he seems to be recovering from that. But his magic is… wrong… unstable. He said that you could help; that you know what he needs."

Gray Thunder pulled a few puffs on the pipe, gazing back at Severus's intent look. He pulled the pipe from his mouth and said, "He needs the lightning. He calls the Thunder Bird to himself, but that one does not give him thunder and rain. He needs the lightning so the Thunder Bird gives him that. Take him out to the dessert. The Thunder Bird will come to him there."

Severus immediately knew that it had been Harry at the center of the lightning storm he had observed. It had not been the first time that he had been there, if what Gray Thunder said was any indication.

"How do I find the Thunder Bird?"

"You will not be able to find him; you have not taken your spiritual journey to enlightenment. The Thunder Bird does not come except to the one he wishes to come to."

Severus frowned. "Harry is unconscious. I will have to take him to wherever it is."

Gray Thunder puffed on the pipe some more as he sat calmly watching Severus. Severus clamped down on the urge to shout at him to hurry up with his explanations.

" Lightning Dancer can take you there." Gray Thunder said calmly.

Severus lost his temper then. He understood that Lightening Dancer must be Harry's name given by Gray Thunder. "He is unconscious! He cannot take me anywhere! I need to take him! Just tell me where to go!"

"The Thunder Bird calls him to a different place each time. He will only tell him at the moment he seeks him."

Then, because he saw the urge to kill in Severus's eyes or because he finally understood that Harry wasn't going anywhere under his own power, he said, "Bring him here. We can assist him in a spirit walk to ask the Thunder Bird for help. Bring him here in the way you came yourself."

Severus got up. He felt angry that this had been less than helpful. But if that was what was needed he would bring Harry here. How Harry would ask the Thunder Bird for help was a problem they would have to deal with once they were back here. Gray Thunder stood up and motioned to him to stop.

"If you take your own spiritual journey, you will be able to help him. You will understand better what you need to do. Let me help you so that you can help him." The old eyes bored intently into his. "There is time enough for this, my son. There is time, so that your purpose may be made clearer to you."

Severus narrowed his eyes. Could he afford to do this now? Did he _want_ to do it now or even ever? Would it really make a difference in what happened with Harry? He thought about all of that and more in the few minutes that he considered Gray Thunder's suggestion. Then finally he asked himself, could he afford not to take this spiritual journey?

Gray Thunder knew that he had made his decision almost before he actually knew he had made it himself. He gestured to Severus to follow him and Severus did. They walked away from the little house with its sitting shelter. Severus followed Gray Thunder out into a barren landscape for several hundred yards before the old Indian stopped. What Severus had thought was a slightly raised mound of earth turned out to be a covered pit. Gray Thunder wordlessly climbed down a ladder that stuck out of the ground and disappeared into a the dark pit through a small opening. After a moment's consideration Severus followed him.

The inside lit up when Gray Thunder struck a match and used it to start a fire that had already been laid in the center of the floor. Severus looked around and saw that it was a perfectly round room, the fire in a small depression. There were numerous square 'windows' at equal intervals around the wall that made shelves . Clay pots were in some, and others held objects in clay bowls that he could not readily make out.

Gray Thunder went around the wall stopping at some of the shelf spaces to put something into a shallow clay bowl that he was carrying. He set the bowl down and went over to one side and took up another clay jar that he put next to the bowl.

He began to remove his shirt and made a motion to Severus that he should do likewise. Severus hesitated briefly before complying. Gray Thunder motioned him to stand next to the fire and he got another shallow bowl from a shelf before coming to stand before him. Severus was holding his wand in his hand. It had been in his sleeve and he did not intend to be separated from it. Gray Thunder nodded when he saw it.

"You will not need it for your journey, but if it comforts you to have it you may hold it." He closed his eyes and began chanting in a sing song rhythm that Severus could not understand, even with the translation spell. As he sang, Gray Thunder dabbed a finger into one of several colored pastes in the bowl he held. He would first paint a design on himself and then an identical one on Severus. Severus soon had rune like designs on his chest and on his face. Gray Thunder then reached up, using red paint, to draw a jagged line across the scars on Severus's throat. Severus stiffened and Gray Thunder stopped.

In a voice that Severus understood Gray Thunder explained, "The symbols to open the paths to your spirit journey have been drawn. There is a spirit in you already and it dwells within the mark she left. You have her power and it will light your way to understanding. Come, sit now."

He indicated that Severus should sit on one side of the fire on a woven mat. He sat down on a similar mat across from him. He took several pinches of some substances that he had earlier placed in the clay bowl and threw them into the fire. Then he took more and added it to the clay jar that he then swirled around. Severus heard the sound of liquid as it sloshed inside.

Gray Thunder handed the clay jar to Severus, making some motions as he passed it through the flamesto him. "This is the drink that will open your mind to your journey. You must drink it all."

Severus sniffed the opening of the jar but was unable to identify what it might contain. He looked across at Gray Thunder and the old man motioned for him to go ahead. Severus tipped the jar to his lips and after only a brief pause he downed the contents.

Gray Thunder was throwing more substances onto the flames of the fire and they shot up with a shower of sparks, almost reaching the low roof. Severus grew alarmed at how his vision suddenly swam and doubled and the sounds of the crackling fire seemed to amplify. From far off he heard Gray Thunder's voice.

"Open your mind my son, to receive your guide. Open your mind and follow where your spirit leads you. Do not question, only learn what they show you and tell you. Follow… follow… follow…"

The voice grew distant and the flames disappeared from in front of Severus. He found himself moving through a long earthen tunnel, the walls rough and occasionally studded with crystals that gave off a luminescence. The walls had runes painted on them that were similar to the ones he was now adorned with. He didn't feel as if he was walking because the traveling was too fast and smooth. It was more like flying as he turned and rotated to look at all the runes as he passed them There did not appear to be a roof or a floor, only the tunnel itself. Up ahead he caught sight of a bright light and it was growing bigger, drawing closer, or else he was drawing closer to it. This was almost like traveling by floo, but much more pleasant.

The destination was suddenly there and he found himself standing in a wooded glade. The sun was very bright and glinting even more off the shimmering leaves of the trees and reflected by the water in a small brook that bubbled beside him.

Gray Thunder was sitting on a flat boulder and he motioned to Severus to join him. The boulder seemed to grow in diameter as he approached so that there was enough room for them both. He climbed up and as he used his hands to seat himself he noticed that his wand was gone. In its place was a small hide pouch with beaded fringe. He held it up and Gray Thunder spoke.

"You have been given a Medicine Bag. The spirits here have recognized you and have seen in you kindred. Open your bag and pour out the contents."

Severus found a square of woven white cloth before him and he did as he was told. He untied the drawstring of leather and opened the neck of the small pouch. He gently shook out the objects inside, his eyes widening with some surprise. Before he could comment, Gray Thunder reached out and took the pouch from him.

Holding the soft white leather up he said, "This Medicine Bag is made from the sacred white deer, a doe who had never given birth, but was the mother of many. She is a protective spirit, a strong spirit. It is unusual for a man to have a white doe pouch, but I sense that you will understand a meaning behind some of these objects that I cannot." The pouch had a beaded design on the front. "The medicine wheel symbolizes the direction of the winds and from where all earth energy comes from." He waved the bag in the four different directions, pressed it briefly to his forehead and then gave it to Severus.

He laid the pouch aside. Severus thought of his doe Patronus, a white doe, and magic that protected him from the power of Dementors, as well as being able to send messages. When he looked back up, he saw that Gray Thunder was waiting for him to be ready to continue. He nodded and the Indian picked up the first object.

"This is the feather of a raven. The raven has been your guide for a long time, even if you did not know it. A raven watches and waits. Your raven has watched and waited for you to come to this place. Now you can acknowledge him. He will cloak you in his darkness when you need to hide. He will give you wings to fly quickly when your need is dire."

Severus thought of his animagus form, it was a raven. He had often lamented it to himself, not believing that it was a form of any elegance. As a young man he had wished it to be an eagle or something equally majestic. He had never disclosed to anyone that he even had an animagus form and it had never been registered with the Ministry of Magic. To hear that the raven was his guide went a long way to helping him believe what was now happening to him. There was no way that Gray Thunder could have known this information. Not even Albus or Voldemort had known it, because as little as he had thought of the form, it was his and his alone. He held it close and was silent on it, wanting even that small part to be his alone and not something that could be used by either of his former masters.

When he looked up from these thoughts and nodded Gray Thunder continued once more. He picked up a small white flower that Severus immediately recognized as aconite or wolfsbane. "This is a small flower, but one that is quite powerful, yes? It can poison, heal, or destroy, depending upon what it is being used for. You have used this flower in all its forms. You are its master. It will continue to serve you and protect you."

Severus had used wolfsbane in developing the potion that transformed a raging werewolf into one that kept its human mind during the full moon. He had used wolfsbane to make a poison requested by Voldemort that would keep the werewolves under his command docile except upon his command to kill. He had managed to convince Voldemort that it needed an extremely rare herb to be entirely successful and that herb was impossible to come by except during a few short days a year in a remote part of South America. Voldemort had Crucio'd him for almost ten minutes when he had been given that news. It had been worth it to know that he had kept Voldemort from having such a power at his disposal.

He looked up and Gray Thunder picked up a small glass vial. It filled with the amber fluid that he knew to be the venom from Nagini. It was in its raw and concentrated form. One tiny drop would kill within minutes and there was no antidote except that which he had created. He had only two vials of the venom, having stolen it from the laboratory that Voldemort had furnished for him. Severus had convinced him that the venom could be used for making poisons to be used against special enemies. The venom vials had disappeared under a random Death Eater guards' watch and the man had died a horrible death for his inattention. Gray Thunder had said nothing about this item. Severus looked at him and at the vial and the Indian laid it down on the mat without a word. That it would be here in this spiritual vision, was astounding; again something that convinced Severus of the truth of what was here.

Gray Thunder picked up a piece of wood and Severus gasped as he recognized it. It was from his first wand, the wand his mother had given to him right before he went to Hogwarts. Eileen had gotten it from her own mother who had gotten it from her father. The generational wand was vibrant with family magic and it had felt so right in his hand! He reached out and took the wood from Gray Thunder. The small bit of oak still had a strand of silver unicorn hair coming from where it had been imbedded in its core. Even in its broken state it gave off a pulse of magic as he held it between two fingers. Wands themselves did not have magic but were used as a conduit to focus a wizards magic. He looked at Gray Thunder in question.

"This wood has memory. It is the memory of family and tradition, values that you once held dear and then denied."

That was true. He had held this wand when his mother had given it to him and had thrilled with the feelings of being the next generation to hold it, He had sighed at the silky polished feel of the oft handled wood. It had been a bitter moment when his muggle father Tobias had broken the wand in a drunken rage. Eileen had snuck the pieces into her pocket as she cleaned up the mess her husband had created. Severus thought she had thrown the pieces away with the glass she had also swept up. But here in his hand was a piece that had memory magic of the generations that had held it. He caressed it between long fingers before laying it carefully down.

"This is lock of hair from your first true love. She was a friend even in times of trial and when you had betrayed her trust in you. She forgave you even when you did not deserve it. This is a symbol of her love and the love she gave also to her son…Harry."

Severus swallowed back a lump in his throat that threatened to cut off his air supply as it grew. Lily. She really had been his first love after the childish love a boy has for his mother. She had been everything that he himself was not. She was strong enough to voice her beliefs and brave enough to call people on beliefs that were misguided. She was fair and wanted fairness for everyone and hated to see anyone hurt. How had Gray Thunder known about her? How had he known that she was also Harry's mother?

Severus took the small lock of vibrant red hair tied with a thin green ribbon. It had been what the young girl Lily had given Severus once they had started school at Hogwarts and been sorted into different houses. "Don't forget me Sev. No matter what, we'll always be friends, even if we are in different houses." He heard her clear sweet voice say the same words she had said so very long ago when she had given him the token.

He didn't notice the single tear rolling down his cheek until Gray Thunder spoke again, his voice firm but gentle. "These items have been given to your Medicine bag because they are reminders of powerful times in your life, times when you journeyed and persevered through a challenge or a hardship and overcame it. In your mind these things remind you of love, faith, hard work, and accomplishment."

Severus nodded his understanding. He looked down at the other items still on one side of the mat.

"You must choose your path for the next part of your journey. You may take one or several or all, but what is in your mind when you choose them will guide your future steps. You have events that are troubling you. Will you choose to aid or ignore them? You have a personal vision in mind for your future. Will you change that vision to accommodate the needs of someone else or will you forsake them? To do so would not be a selfish choice, for they did not plan on needing you or wanting you on their journey."

One of the items was a small gold ball that Severus recognized as a snitch. He knew that it must symbolize Harry. He was here because he was attempting to help him. He had gone on this spiritual quest in order to be able to do whatever it was that Harry needed for him to do. He picked up the ball and held it up. Gray Thunder made a soft exclamation of surprise when two fluttery wings unfurled at his touch. They whirled with a gentle buzz and the snitch hovered there in the air between the men. Severus noticed that one of the wings was broken and faltering and gradually it came to a complete stop and lay limp while the other wing beat madly to keep it aloft. It suddenly stopped altogether and the snitch fell to the mat and lay still.

"Harry…" Severus whispered. Harry was crippled in some way just like this snitch. The symbolism was clear. He was broken and the one wing was working as hard as it could to keep him aloft. Now he was fading and needed something, someone to help him. He knew, to his everlasting surprise, that he wanted it to be him.

He picked the snitch back up and held it close in his hand. Gray Thunder smiled and nodded. Severus added the snitch to the items already seen and turned to the others again. There was a whisp of white fuzz and Severus knew that it was some of the hair from Albus's beard. How in Merlin's name had Gray Thunder gotten that? He picked it up and looked at Gray Thunder with a raised eyebrow.

"This is something… perhaps a symbol from someone who helped you, or maybe even hurt you. They were a trusted friend but you had ambiguous feelings towards them. If you could, would you choose to have them help you with your continuing journey after today?"

Severus thought about that. Albus had been a mentor and a friend, but he had also been a complete pain in the ass on many occasions. His penchant for being a chess master and manipulating everyone around on the board was an aggravation Severus could do without. If he chose this token what could Albus really do from beyond the grave? Perhaps it was just the reminder that everything should have balance. Not everything could be black or white. There were shades in between and there were times when one appeared to be what they were not.

He laid the hair on the mat with the others and looked up to see Gray Thunder nodding and smiling. Severus gave an inward sigh of relief that he had chosen well. He was tempted to just say he was done and end this right here, but then he realized that there might be more that he would need to have or to know in order to help Harry.

Gray Thunder pointed to the remaining items on the mat and Severus looked. His eye was caught by a small crescent. He bent to see it closer and Gray Thunder said, "The fang of a rattlesnake."

"What does it mean?" Severus asked. His first inclination was that it would not be a good choice, but then he thought that the same could be said of some of the other objects that had already been chosen for him. He gave his mind over to the possible benefits of such an item.

Closing his eyes he saw the snake that had bitten Harry and heard the loud warning rattle of its tail as it coiled up and readied its strike. Feelings of fear for its den and its kin rushed through him as if he was the snake. He felt the glands at the side of its head swell and ready themselves to force the venom there through the hollow fangs. There was no thought of needing to hurt or kill except as a response to the threat to its own safety and the safety of its nest.

Severus opened his eyes and picked up the fang. Gray Thunder nodded. "You choose wisely. The rattlesnake does not set out to hurt of its own accord but only reacts to the need to protect and defend or to feed. You see that this is what the uninformed would see as evil but is in fact good?"

Severus nodded. Looking back at the mat he saw one last object; another small glass vial. He looked at it closely… it appeared to be filled with a grayish substance, perhaps a powder. He picked it up curiously and a sharp pain ran through his left arm in the spot where a faded tattoo of a skull and snake suddenly became black once again. He looked down in horror as the tattoo snake writhed and twisted its way from the mouth of the skull, the Dark Mark alive as it had been when the Dark Lord had called his minions to his side. He dropped the vial back onto the mat and looked at Gray Thunder, his breath coming in gasps as the pain faded and his old mark became quiet again.

Gray Thunder picked up the vial and held it to the light. "Ashes of an evil man… he sought to hold sway over those he had no right to. He killed and tortured in the name of a supremacy he did not have himself."

Severus looked at Gray Thunder in surprise; how would he know of these things and where did the ashes come from? He had heard from Aberforth that the remains of Voldemort had been thoroughly and irretrievably scattered to the winds.

"Harry." Gray Thunder answered his unasked question. "Harry carried these with him, a reminder that he had defeated him and that he was gone from this world. But the evil one still walked in his dreams and had that power to hurt from just being a memory. Harry had to walk this journey as well, and learn to put him to rest in his mind. He had to believe in his heart that his evil was gone from this world and should no longer hold any control of him or his actions. You too will have to learn this, even more than Lightning Dancer. The evil one was a master and you had to walk close to him while not being a part of him. He is still in your inner most fears as well. You have to obtain a mastery over that before you can let go and scatter these final ashes to the four winds." He handed the vial to Severus.

When Severus reluctantly took it, it did not cause the Dark Mark to flair. He laid it with the others and looked at the last object. It was a small gem-like stone. He picked it up and looked at Gray Thunder. The old man shrugged.

"I do not know where this is from or what it symbolizes for you. It will be made clear sometime during your journey through this life. It may not be now, it may be many years from now, it may never be made clear to you but to someone who comes after you.

Severus laid it down next to the other objects on the mat. Gray Thunder began another chant and the world around them faded and Severus was again in the tunnel.

Soon there was another light that he was speeding towards and it dropped him into a dessert. He turned all around until he saw that there was another flat boulder. The medicine bag lay on top of it and was tied tightly. When Severus looked up, Gray Thunder was across from him, sitting cross legged on the boulder. He climbed onto the boulder and sat down. Gray Thunder picked up the medicine bag and leaned forward. Severus bent forward and Gray Thunder tied the long leather thongs around his neck. The bag fell against Severus's sternum when he sat up straight.

"You have received that which will protect you on your journey. The medicine bag is a sacred thing and must not fall into the hands of any other. It must not be opened by you or any other or the spirits that dwell within will leave you. You must repeat the prayers that I speak."

Severus found himself standing beside Gray Thunder as they faced a rising sun. Severus somehow knew that it was a rising and not a setting sun. Perhaps it was because the air felt like the cool of day and not the heat left from a day of blazing sun at sundown.

Gray Thunder spoke again, his voice in the sing song rhythm of ceremony.

**Sun who looks to four winds on  
Mother Earth: North, South, East, West.  
Enriching one's health,  
Bring good luck, fortune,  
Healing the sick.**

**Ravens feather for wisdom, honesty, happiness.**

**Wolfsbane for strength and healing.**

**Ashes of the dead to remind of mortality and the mortality of enemies.**

**Tokens to remind of love, trust, and balance.**

**Bless this Medicine Bag and what it holds,**

**To aid the rest of our days**

**Until the journey of time on Mother Earth is completed.**

Severus felt a tingling, not unlike the tingling from a minor spell, go through his chest from the area around the medicine bag. He looked over at Gray Thunder and saw him bow to the sun that was creeping higher into the sky.

"Bless this day oh Sun. Make it bright and fruitful for your children and for Mother Earth."

He looked at Severus and indicated that he should say it also. Severus bent at the waist as Gray Thunder did and repeated the blessing request.

"Bless this day oh Sun. Make it bright and fruitful for your children and for Mother Earth."

Gray Thunder turned and looked at Severus. "It is time for you to sit for your vision."

"What is it that we've been doing already?" He struggled not to shout out his impatience at how long he perceived this was taking.

"This was your seeking of the spirits who will protect and guide you. Your vision will tell you what you are meant to do and the path you are to follow. You may choose not to follow the vision, but if you do not the spirits will leave you."

Severus nodded and the area around them changed once more. They were back in the ceremonial pit, sitting across the fire from one another. Severus swayed and felt disoriented. He reached up to wipe sweat from his face and felt it running down his back.

Gray Thunder was once again tossing something into the flames and they danced higher and flared hotter. He mixed something into another clay jar of water and passed it to Severus. He motioned for him to drink and he did.

The effect was immediate and Severus felt the room spinning away as he floated above his body. He was looking down and could see himself sitting there facing the hot flames. The call of a raven pierced the air and Severus turned his head to see the bird soar up out of the opening. Severus soared after it and looked down at his body to see that he was in his animagus form, another raven, without having thought of changing at all. He looked back at the other raven and followed it out over the dry land, over cactus and scrub brush, over rocks and ravines cut by flash floods. They went on and on until they reached the distant mountains. There at the foot of a mountain was a gnarled tree, standing starkly alone. The raven led Severus to this tree and perched on a branch near the top. Severus lighted nearby. The tree appeared to be dead. It was blackened as if it had burned. The ground around the base was also blackened in streaks that spread out on the ground with the tree roots at its center. The raven gave another call and the air around them shimmered.

Severus felt a change occur but was unsure what had happened until he looked out and saw Harry walking towards the tree. He gave his own shrill call, surprised that Harry could be here. Then the image shimmered again and Harry was even closer. He did not notice the two ravens in the tree. Severus realized that this was a memory, a scene that had occurred some time ago and was being shown to him now.

Harry reached the tree and leaned on it as if he was exhausted and indeed he did look exhausted when Severus looked closer. He watched as Harry stood up straight again and held up his hands to the sky. He could see sparks arcing from his finger tips and then with a loud cry there was suddenly a streak of lightning was shooting towards the sky. The sky lit up so brightly that it left behind spots on the raven Severus's retina's. He took off and flew away from the tree to circle around from behind Harry.

Once started, the lightning came nonstop, casting an eerie green glow for miles all around. Severus recognized the color from the heat lightning show he had seen from the ranch. Harry stood in the middle of it, next to the tree, arms extended either out to his side or up over his head. Each flash was accompanied by an anguished cry from him until Severus wondered how he had any voice left at all.

Finally, he fell to the ground. Severus flew over him, listening to the heavy breaths as he lay there heaving on the dirt. He clutched at the earth and another spasm twisted his body. Lightning flashed from his hands and into the ground; Severus could actually see the ground seem to light up from within.

Harry vomited as he lay there and Severus thought that he must be done; it must be over, whatever it was that was causing it. He landed beside the younger man and he could see that sweat rolled off of him, drenching his clothes. Harry rolled over onto his side and opened his eyes tiredly. Severus could see the pain in those green eyes, the total and complete exhaustion, along with something else… it was resignation. He wondered what in Merlin's name was going on. He remembered that Doc had said that there had been many lightning storms, heat lightning they called it, the kind that brought no rain and was only seen in the distance.

The memory Harry startled him when he reached out and stroked a finger over the ravens back.

"You look like Severus… I wish you were him…maybe he'd know what to do…"

Raven Severus cawed, "Do about what? Tell me what's happening."

Harry chuckled and then grimaced at the pain the movement caused. "I almost believe that you can understand me. You're probably not even here. I just want it so badly, want him so much to be here…did I bring him here? Did I do that?"

Severus struggled to transform but he was stuck in the animagus form.

"This vision is not a time for you to interfere, only to learn," the spirit raven called. "You are seeing what you need to know, hearing what you need to hear." The raven circled high overhead.

"I could talk to him, find out more-"

"No. This is not the time. There is more to learn."

Severus looked back at the nearly unconscious man. Harry had his eyes closed again, but his breathing was easier. He rolled over onto his back and his hands reached to pull aside his shirt.

Raven Severus suddenly saw that there was the remains of blood on Harry's face, scrapes along his chin, and he realized that this time was right after the altercation with Josh, when Harry had been lassoed and pulled off his horse to fall face first onto the ground. This really was a memory.

Now Severus could see where Harry had pulled aside the shirt and he saw that Harry's ribs were also bruised. There was a new blue area over an older yellowing area. That was part of the injuries Harry had gotten when riding Steamer.

Raven Severus watched as the wounds slowly faded, the bruising going from a vivid discoloration to being nothing at all.

Harry gave a moan and grimaced, the sound of bones popping into place loud in the absence of any other noise. Finally, Harry sat up, slowly stretching, moving his head and neck to ease the tension remaining there.

He stood, a little unsteady, but undoubtedly more whole than he had been only moments before. There was still an air of exhaustion about him, but he looked down at himself and then with a casual wave of his hand his clothes were cleaner. He passed his hand over his face, over the eyes that were smudged beneath with the shadows of someone who had gotten little rest in a long time. The glamour was not heavy so as to be obvious, but it hid the tiredness and the gauntness Severus had seen.

He disappeared and Raven Severus cawed in dismay. Where had he gone? The spirit raven flew down and Severus followed it back up into the sky. He felt that shimmering again and they were flying over the house of Gray Thunder. Harry was walking up to the corral where Severus saw his horse was tied. Gray Thunder walked out of his shelter to meet him.

They spoke in Gray Thunder's native tongue but Severus could easily understand them.

"My son, stay for awhile and rest. You are tired." Gray Thunder beseeched him.

"I am alright, grandfather. I can't stay away too long or there will be questions." He halted beside the horse and rested his head against its flank. "I am tired. But I will sleep better tonight."

"Your fellow warrior is here now, is he not? He could help you with the lightning."

Harry shook his head. "We fought together, but we were not friends like that. He would just think it's what I deserved. He thought I liked all the attention I got from everything that happened."

"Perhaps the time has come to set aside the differences between you."

"I would, grandfather… Merlin knows that I would. I've loved him for so long… even before I knew that he was really on the side of the light."

"I know this. You saw it in your vision quest, in your spiritual journey."

"I can't make him see me as anything but what he believes to be true. He has to learn to see me as I really am."

He mounted the horse and Gray Thunder came to stand beside him. "Perhaps he will go on his own spiritual journey and quest for guidance. Then he would know."

"Perhaps he will, grandfather. Perhaps he will." He turned the horse and rode off a ways before he took the reins and caused to horse to turn a little sharply. Severus was amazed to see both horse and rider disapparate with a pop no louder than if it had been just Harry alone.

Raven Severus waited for the shimmering that would take him wherever in this memory that Harry had gone. But when it came it only took him back to the ceremonial pit. He was once more seated across the fire from Gray Thunder. He was back in human form and he was so hot. The flames were still crackling and there was the peculiar odor of some herb or plant that had been thrown into it.

Through the fire he could see Gray Thunder gazing at him. He was smoking his pipe as if he had been sitting there all along, waiting for Severus. Severus wondered if he knew everything that he had seen.

Gray Thunder nodded and Severus knew that he had not said anything aloud. The Indian was certainly better than Sybil Trelawney when it came to discernment. In matters of the spirit he could probably dance circles around her. It occurred to him that the ways of magic were not so different than the ways of Native American spirituality. Certainly the names of things were different and there were different views about the world of extraordinary events. But the perceptions of good and evil were very much alike, as was the belief that a balance had to be maintained.

Severus tilted his head at the Indian. "Grandfather," he addressed him. "Grandfather, I am not certain what I am to do with what I have learned. I want to help Harry, but I don't know what it is he is suffering from. I see that he believes I do not want to help him. It may have been true at one time, that I did not like him. As a younger boy and man he reminded me too much of his father, whom I did not like at all. I made the mistake of seeing too much of his father in him."

"And not enough of his mother, a woman you once loved."

Severus snapped, "I always loved her. She was a beautiful woman, one who you would say had a good spirit."

"Harry has her spirit. He has her goodness in him. That is why he struggles now; why he suffers."

Severus frowned. "What is causing this struggle and suffering?"

"There is an imbalance in his magical core, as he calls it. It becomes so powerful that he can only safely discharge it as you have seen in the memory. The first time he made the lightning storm I was out in the desert gathering plants. He thought himself alone, and if I had not been there he would have remained undiscovered." Gray Thunder took a long drag on the pipe, sending the smoke to mix with the smoke from the fire. The flames had died back a bit and Severus was not feeling as hot. Gray Thunder continued, "He is weak after the storm, as it drains off more of his magic than he wants, but it is not something he can control. He says that if he does not he is afraid that he would lose control and hurt someone. His anger intensifies the building of power even faster. He tries to stay calm so that he will not have to seek out the tree or the canyons."

"Canyons?"

Yes. He goes to the canyons sometimes. He cannot go to the same place every time. If you should choose to help him you will likely see all the places he goes."

Severus felt insulted that Gray Thunder might think that he would not help Harry. "Of course I will help him. I have saved his life before and I expect that this won't be the last time I do so."

Gray Thunder gazed at him and Severus saw the reproach in his eyes. "That is why he is reluctant to approach you. You have saved him before. He knows this and he is grateful for it. I have seen in his memories that he has thanked you for it. I have seen in his memories that he greatly regretted not having thanked you again when he thought you were dead. He cherished the memories you gave him. He believes that you resent helping him and that you did so only because of his mother."

Severus was silent when he was wanting to loudly dispute the perceived resentment. But he knew that it was the truth. He had been resentful of being made to protect him, to look after him in such a roundabout way by Albus, all those years. But now he could see that it had all been part of the manipulation, all part of the strategies of war. Albus wanted Severus to assist Harry to learn all that he could teach him. By having Severus do it, and with subtle comments inserted here and there, a tense relationship was fostered. While this had the benefit of protecting Severus's dual role to both Albus and to Voldemort, and it made Harry resentful of the snide and snarky remarks that Severus always felt compelled to make, it increased the chasm between them so that Harry was never able to believe that Severus was anything but evil and a traitor to the Light. The memories that Severus had given Harry as he lay dying on the floor of the Shrieking Shack had exonerated Severus, but had also made Harry carry a huge burden of guilt for the doubt and the hatred he had felt towards Severus.

Severus realized that he had been anything but nice when he had ever helped Harry. He had always made sure to rub the boys nose in the fact that he had needed help and that he would always be the consummate Gryffindor in Severus's book.

Gray Thunder said quietly, "It is often said that love and hate are thinly separated. He is afraid to acknowledge his love because he fears the hate he is sure you harbor for him."

Severus sighed, "I do not hate him. It is just strange to acknowledge feelings for someone whose mother I loved very much. It feels like a betrayal to her memory."

"Harry feels the same way."

Severus rubbed his face tiredly and then asked, "What now? I need to go back to the hospital."

"Do you know what needs to be done for him, to help with having too much power?"

"I have been considering it already. I will have to see how he is when I return, to gauge how much time I have and how much research I may do before taking action."

"Then the last thing you must do is seek your name. As I am called Gray Thunder and Harry's name is Man of Lightning, you too will be given a name by your spirit guide."

Gray Thunder threw more sprinkles of green leaves onto the fire. It sparked brightly and a pungent aroma filled the ceremony pit. Severus closed his eyes as he felt the shimmering take him away once more.

He found himself beside the boulder in the wooded glade and he sat down across from Gray Thunder. Gray Thunder commanded him, "Close your eyes my son. Listen to the wind and listen for your guide to whisper to you your name. You will understand it when it comes and it will be the name you will be known by among our kindred. Your spirit guide will always be able to find you by speaking your name."

Severus closed his eyes as directed and listened to the wind. His decades of practice in clearing his mind came into play and he was able to block out everything except the rustling of the wind through the leaves of the trees, through the tall grass that surrounded the boulder.

He heard the distant cawing of his spirit guide raven and heard it again as it came closer. The whispering of the wind ebbed and flowed as it blew harder for a bit and then became softer again.

He felt a flutter of wings and then the talons of the raven as it landed on his bare shoulder. It cawed and the talons bit into his flesh. Severus controlled the impulse to shake the bird off. This was a dream state, not real. He was not really bleeding from eight puncture wounds. He did not really feel blood running down his chest and back from them.

Then a whisper, "You are our kindred, your name is… Raven That Holds the Lightning…"

The raven cawed again and with another flexing of talons into his flesh it took off.

Severus felt the shimmering again as the world shifted. Raven That Holds the Lightning… Harry was Man of Lightning… He knew then, without a doubt in his mind or heart that he was meant to be here. Whether Harry's magic had called him here and he had come, thinking that he was simply wandering, or whether it was simply fate or karma, or whatever the word was that Indians might use to mean that something happened that was meant to happen, this was what it was supposed to be. Any previous grudges or resentments would have no more place or meaning. He knew that it would not be easy to let go of those. There was too much history. But he would try to lay them aside. He would hold the lightning… his arms actually began to ache with the physical need to do so… this was strange to imagine… how would Harry receive that?

He opened his eyes. He was back in the ceremonial pit. He swayed as the effects of the rituals wore away, leaving him feeling drained. Gray Thunder was standing up and Severus struggled to follow for a moment before he succeeded. The old man smiled.

"The peyote will wear off quickly now, but I have another herb in my shelter that will hasten it from your system. Come now. Climb carefully as we leave and walk slowly."

Severus looked around. The fire was out and sticks were laid as if ready for a new fire at any moment. The clay bowls and jars were back in their places in the window shelves around the edge of the circular room.

Gray Thunder was putting on his own shirt and Severus reached for his own. When he extended his right arm to put it through the sleeve he winced. Looking down at his shoulder he saw the small holes that had been left by the talons of the raven. He looked at them closer and felt of them. They were not bleeding but it looked as if they had been dabbed with something…

"It is your mark, the mark of your spirit guide. Ashes from the fire have been rubbed in so you will always have them as a reminder of your spirit journey."

Severus fingered them gently and felt the six marks on the front of his shoulder and the two in back from the back talons. He did not feel resentful of having yet another set of scars. These were scars to be proud of. He searched his thoughts and feelings further and realized that he no longer felt the need to hide the scars from Nagini's attack. They were a sign from a time when he had survived evil and come out stronger for it. He had been meant to die but had not. His fate had not been to die on that dusty floor, lying in poisoned blood, but to live, to come here to this time and place.

He finished putting on his shirt and looked at Gray Thunder. The man was waiting patiently for him, as if knowing that his thoughts were turned inward and he was still in the throes of the visions and the realizations from them.

They climbed up the ladder and Severus was surprised to see the sun sitting on the horizon. The air was cool as it was in the mornings. Gray Thunder bowed to the rising sun and Severus followed his example. He listened as Gray Thunder murmured the prayers to greet the day and thank the spirits for the past night and the visions that had been beheld.

Severus followed Gray Thunder back through the desert to his house and the shelter. The desert was full of life this early and Severus noticed it all with the acuity of a drugged mind. The little bits of green were more vibrant, the small animals were more evident and not hidden in the camouflage of their coloring against the rocks and sands. It seemed as if they were out there just to see him as he passed by, greeting him as a brother. The lizards and snakes and ground squirrels chirped and hissed and barked as he passed and then scampered back out of sight. This happened the whole way back to the house and Severus was feeling a bit overwhelmed by it as they walked up to the shelter.

Gray Thunder took a water skin that was hanging on a hook and opened it, holding it out to Severus. Severus drank deeply of the water, if that's what it was. It was sweet and tasted so good; his throat seemed parched and welcomed the wetness greedily. Gray Thunder allowed him to drain the water skin and then said,

"Man of Lightning waits for you. Bring him here and from here we will go to the canyons."

"I have not been to the canyons—"

"I know that you must see a place to be able to fly there with your magic; Harry told me that. You will be able to see the place through his eyes and you will know where it is and how to go. It is safer there for whatever must be done."

"I don't know what must be done yet. I need to research and read—"

Gray Thunder interrupted again, "The research will be in your heart. You will know how to help him. It has been ordained."

Severus mulled those words over for a few seconds before nodding. His old tendency to scoff at such things was gone. He had seen his vision and taken his journey. Too much of it had been true to his past and it meshed with what he knew already. His beliefs in how finite the magical world was had been stretched to include this earthy magic, this more natural oneness with other living things. It was almost unbelievably comfortable, to feel such a kinship with all living things. Where he came from the creatures of magic were categorized and separated. Some humans with conditions like vampirism or being a werewolf caused them to be categorized as dark creatures and not seen as human at all.

He realized that for the first time he felt comfortable in his own skin, despite scars, his looks, he was able to like himself in a way he never had before. He straightened as he stood there, filled with a confidence that had always been a mask before. Now it was real. He gave a nod to Gray Thunder and walked a ways away from the shelter before he spun and disapparated.

A/N: Please forgive the long delay! I had a different idea than my Muse and she won. Also, RL has been an emotional trauma as I lose my job at the end of this school year and seek to get back into my first field, Respiratory therapy! Much studying lies on my horizon! I wish I was proficient enough at writing to make it a full-time paying job! Here is a list of the items Severus has in his Medicine Bag and why I added them. Remember, I mean no disrespect to anyone's beliefs. I used what I needed to make this fiction work for me. I am no expert! I do not own any of JKR's stuff. I'm just playing around with it!

The feather of a raven- Severus's spirit guide

Wolfsbane flower- also known as aconite; Severus had mastered it

Nagini's venom- Severus had once stolen what Voldemort had in order to keep it from being used as a weapon

Wand fragment- from the Prince family wand-oak and unicorn hair; broken by Severus' muggle father in a drunken rage. It had been Sev's first wand given to him by his mum

Lock of Lily's hair- symbol of love and acceptance in the face of adversity; friendship that overcame barriers of house difference and blood differences. Severus' first friend and first love.

Broken snitch-symbolizes Harry- broken and in need of help

Lock of Albus's beard-Severus' light master, mentor, friend, but also someone who violated trust by being manipulative. Reminder that all was not black or white but came in shades of gray. Not all good or all bad.

Fang of a rattlesnake-reminder that what we perceive as being bad can be good. The rattlesnake strikes out in an effort to protect but never to maliciously wound or kill.

Ashes of Voldemort- Harry had carried them as a reminder that he had defeated the evil man. Now it was a reminder to leave the past behind and let it go so that it did not control the present or what would happen in the future. Harry had let it go and now it came to Severus to do the same.

This last object is the stone of resurrection, thought to have been lost when Harry used it at the last battle. My Muse made me add this. I guess we'll find out why later!

Thank you for reading and for the reviews and alerts! FYI, I did not intend that this would be slash… I still don't know where the Muse is going. I hope no one will be disappointed no matter what it turns out to be.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

It was not until he was once more in the hidden area next to the hospital that he realized that he had apparated without the use of his wand. He raised an eyebrow to himself but did not stop to contemplate that information.

He looked down at himself and made sure that he looked presentable. He really had no idea how long he had been gone. The hospital was quiet, as it should be this early in the morning, before visitors generally began to arrive and before patients arrived to appointments.

He rode the elevator up to the second floor, pulled to where he knew Harry was, and walked to the room. Dr. Green was dozing, snoring gently, in one chair and Doc was in another chair snoring quite loudly.

Severus walked to the bedside and looked down at Harry. He looked tired, even in his coma. He still had IV lines running with clear fluids and Severus checked the bags to make sure that nothing had been added in his absence. It was a simple saline solution so he was satisfied.

There were no electronic monitors of any kind like Severus had noted before. In fact, the monitors themselves had been removed and there were curious scorch marks on the wall behind where they had once sat.

He went closer and laid the palm of his hand against Harry's forehead. He felt cold and Severus moved his hand to cup his cheek. He was surprised when Harry's head turned slightly seeming to seek out closer contact with his hand. He pressed it closer and Harry took a deeper breath, as if it had satisfied his need for touch and had been a comfort.

Severus turned away and went to Tom. Shaking him gently he whispered, "Wake up. We need to talk."

Tom Green immediately opened his eyes and stood up, rubbing them to further rouse himself from sleep. "You're back." Then he took a closer look at Severus and whistled softly. "I heard that spirit quests changed a man, but… wow."

Severus narrowed his eyes and Tom waved a hand towards the mirror over the sink in the corner. Severus walked over to it and gave a cursory glance before doing a double take. He leaned forward to look closer. His black hair had always been solid, not graying or showing a single silver hair, even after all that he had been through. He was of course still fairly young by wizarding standards. Now, his hair was black, but one side was streaked with a narrow band of solid silver. It made a startling difference in his appearance, making him look as confident as he truly felt. Tom had come up behind him to stare at his reflection with him. His eyes went to the scars that were now very visible at the open neck of his shirt. They were no longer painted with the ceremonial paint but they were still vivid against his pale skin. Severus turned to face Tom.

"I need to take Harry from here. I do not know how long I will be or when I will return. Can you create a cover for us?"

Tom nodded. "Doc already told them that you had gone to speak to someone about Harry being in a coma. If you take him, I will say that you took him to a specialist. He's an adult and no one can say what he does or doesn't do, although since he's unconscious it can be argued that you are transporting him without his permission."

"You could say—"

"I can say that I agreed with the decision to seek the specialist as I am not familiar enough with his symptoms to treat him." Tom said simply.

"I'll be glad to confirm that." The two men turned to see Doc standing next to Harry's bed. Severus wondered if he would yet be forced to perform an Obliviate on someone. Doc was a good man and he would hate to do it. But the risk of their true abilities being discovered was greater with each person who was in on this.

Doc stepped forward and sighed, "I might be old, but I'm not stupid. Ever since Zag got here there's been something different about him. I can't lay my finger on exactly what it is, but I'd bet good money that it's something rare and that it's _not_ something bad. As soon as I knew that the two of you had known each other from before I've been watching. You're both careful to seem what others would call normal. You're normal alright, just not the kind of normal everyone else is. If I believed in such a thing as magic, I'd say that it had something to do with it." He gave a soft chuckle and shook his head. "Listen to me run on over nothin'. I guess I've seen one too many of those X-File TV shows. No matter; whatever you think is best for the boy I'll agree to it. Most of the others don't know enough to argue it."

Severus looked at Tom. "I can't take all the IV lines. I won't need them."

Tom unhooked each IV and then pulled the needles from his arm after removing the tape holding them in place. Severus used his wand to stop the bleeding from the small punctures at the IV sites.

Severus nodded towards the places where electronic monitors should be sitting. "What happened there?"

"They went haywire at the front desk and when the nurse came in she said the monitors were shooting sparks out the back. They unplugged the wires and took them away. I told them he didn't need them right now. They think it's something to do with a short in the wiring in the wall. I figured that whatever is wrong with Harry, it was effecting them."

Doc watched with interest and wide eyes but he didn't ask any questions. Once everything was done Tom looked at the clock on the wall.

"You hurry. The sooner you leave the easier it will be to say no one noticed you leaving."

Severus looked at Doc. "I apologize for this…" he raised his wand. "Obliviate… Confundus Minimisco…"

Doc swayed, a hand up to his head as the confusion swept over him. Tom stepped over to him and took him by the arm after nodding to Severus. "Come sit down Doc."

While Tom settled Doc back in the chair with his back towards the bed, Severus wrapped the blanket more snuggly around Harry and gathered him close to his chest. Closing his eyes he visualized Gray Thunder's shelter. The hospital room was gone in an instant as he apparated to the old indian's place.

Gray Thunder had a pallet ready and Severus laid Harry down on it. He got his wand out and waved it over Harry in a much more complicated and complete history scan than he had been able to do before.

He looked at the readout with narrowed eyes, brain working at top speed to read and decipher the results. Gray Thunder had been correct when he had repeated what Harry said was wrong.

Harry's core was unbalanced, and it was unbalanced in the extreme, but not in just one direction. The core could be compared to a piece of taffy. It was being pulled until it was stretched too thin whenever Harry expended the overload in the lightning. Then it would rapidly build back up, like the taffy being folded in on itself over and over until it was a tight ball. It would swell until it was near to explosion and that's when Harry felt the need to let off the excess again in the form of lightning again. The use of lightning helped to rid him of the excess rapidly and it didn't appear as if he had been given any choice in the matter.

If Severus was reading the history of the events in his scan correctly, Harry had attempted to dispel the excess in many different ways, none of which worked as effectively.

Harry had tried to use his wand and shoot off strong spells one after another. He had tried that multiple times and each time it had only resulted in an ache in his head of bigger proportions than when Voldemort was in it, and an even stronger overload would result. He tried doing nothing, as it seemed logical that if doing spells didn't have the desired effect perhaps not doing any magic at all would work better. But, it too had the effect of letting the excess build up to unmanageable and painful levels.

The effect of the lightning had been found by accident, it seemed. Severus let the scan details continue to stream out, showing him each time Harry had tried to help himself, and each time it had failed or in the case of lightning, turn out to be only a temporary fix. He had gotten angry at Josh over some intense bullying and teasing about his accent, his stature, his amateur way with the ranch work. It had come to a head and Harry had been hard pressed not to curse the other man with hexes that would not have worn off any time soon. He wanted to stay in this way out west place, where he was invisible, and anonymous. So he resisted the urge to curse and hex and instead had taken a trip far into the desert one evening. He had been about to try to dispel the excess anger and magic with some well placed spells into the desert and some various cacti, when a random bolt of lightning struck nearby. His magic attracted it and it snaked along the ground until it reached him, and then through him. It went through him and out through his hands as he reflexively raised them to the sky. The sky had lit up for miles around. But afterwards he had felt better than he had in a long, long time. His own magic joined with the lightning and leaped to escape its confines. He was tired and sore, but it was a good tired and sore compared to the tension of the magic coiling and twisting in on itself inside him as it grew out of the core.

The rest of the history scans showed more of the same kind of events; Harry going to the various locations and letting his magic stream into the skies or into the canyon rocks. The explosions of electrical activity were blinding and Severus could see that they took a toll on Harry, even as they rid him of the excess.

Severus waved the scan results away and sat there thinking. Gray Thunder had sat down beside him, looking at the readouts.

"I saw the lightning that first time. I followed it to the source because it was like nothing I had ever seen in all my years. When he walked away from the tree, I was there and he stopped. I could see that he wondered if I was safe to keep his secrets. I walked back to the kiva and he followed me. He took his spirit quest and journey the next day. His name became Man of Lightning."

Severus looked at him. "What is his spirit guide?"

"That I cannot tell you," he answered. "Your spirit guide is yours personally. I know his and I know yours, because I helped you on the journey. But your spirit guide is yours to reveal, if you choose, to whoever you choose."

Severus nodded his understanding. He looked down at Harry lying there, and gave in to the impulse to take the lifeless hand in his own. He stroked his thumb over the palm, not liking how cold the flesh there felt. He felt, at that moment, more lost than he had ever felt. He had always been able to do something to help him, even if it had been reluctantly done. There had always been a solution, something to do, something to teach or do to make it turn out right.

But he had never had this kind of problem. He was not familiar with this kind of unbalanced magic. He did not know how to help this time and he was suddenly as frightened as he had ever been in Voldemorts presence. He was frightened that this time there would be no solution. He was frightened that this time, when it mattered most, that he would lose Harry.

That shocked him. He was shocked that he was frightened of losing a man whom he only recently been reunited with. It had been an accidental meeting, an unlikely coincidence. He had thought Harry Potter hidden safely away in some remote place in the world, far from wizards and witches who worshipped his name and what he had done… but this WAS a remote place. It WAS far away from wizards and witches and their sycophantic attitudes…

Was this a coincidence that they should meet again? Harry had thought that he was dead, and yet in the memories, and when Harry had seen him as he lay there in that bed after getting trampled by Steamer…when he had first seen him he had murmured about how he had missed him most of all... why would he miss him so much? In the memories he had said that he…loved him? _Loved_ him? How could that be?

Gray Thunder was sitting there and eerily responded to the questions Severus was asking himself. Severus was certain that he was not speaking out loud. The old Indian must have magic. It was the only explanation. He must be a natural legillimense, or a seer, if there was any such thing in this culture.

"He called your spirit here. He didn't know that you were in fact alive, but his magic did. His magic is incomplete. That is the imbalance."

Severus looked at him in astonishment. How would this man know about such things. Gray Thunder grinned at the unasked question.

"Such things do not occur only in your world, you know. Soul mates, spirit mates, kindred spirits; these are only a few ways they are called."

"Are you saying that Harry believes that he and I… that we are soul mates?"

Gray Thunder shrugged. "I am only telling what I can sense Man of Lightning feels. He has longed for you. I do not know what effect that would have on his magic. But it had to have made it difficult once he was aware that half of his heart was missing."

Severus wanted to scoff but in his own chest a knot was growing and threatening to make it impossible to breathe. Soul Mates? Spirit Mates? Kindred Spirits? How was that possible after all the years of animosity between them?

Gray Thunder responded once more. "It is not impossible. Surely you know how thin the line is between hate and love. We often think that we hate something when in fact we love it so much that we want to deny it rather than being hurt."

Severus squeezed the hand he held. He had strong feelings for this man, that was certain. But was it hate, intense dislike, or was it as Gray Thunder described? Was it love masked as hate so that it could be denied? Had he been so afraid of being rejected or hurt that he made himself believe that he hated Harry Potter?

"Harry…what did I do to you? What can I do now?" he sat there and held the cold hand as he thought over what he knew about Harry's magic.

He did not know how long he had sat there when he began to feel a shift in Harry's magic through the fingers he had twined in his own. He used his other hand to cast the diagnostic spell and saw that Harry's magic was stretching, reaching out. He saw the vaporous manifestation of the magic as it looked like fingers rising up out of Harry's body. The fingers were reaching out to him, straining to draw closer, the strands actually trembling with the effort.

Gray Thunder spoke quietly, "Welcome him. Join his magic to yours. Make a beginning to the healing he needs."

"To join our magics…that would take an irreversible commitment. I—I am not sure that I can do that."

Gray Thunder nodded that he understood, his face and voice non-judgmental, "Then you will allow him to burn his core out, to lose his magic and likely his life."

"No! That's not what I meant!" Severus snapped in ager. "I don't want him to die! If I did, I wouldn't have done what I've done so far. I would not have tried to keep him safe all those years ago! I'm just not certain that the decision to join is the only one or the best one. He is unconscious. I can't be sure that I am what he wants. How can _you_ be so sure?"

"I have seen his journey. I know what his quest is. I know what yours is. If you will only see it clearly you will know it too." He stood up. "I will prepare the kiva now. I believe that a joint journey is needed. Then you will know better how to proceed."

Gray Thunder left the shelter. Severus held tighter to Harry's hand. He did not want to lose him now. Why was it so hard to make a decision to act? What if Gray Thunder was wrong about what Harry wanted?

After a little while he wrapped Harry tight in the blanket once again and lifted him up into his arms. It was alarming how light he felt, as if he was fading from existence right before his eyes.

He carried Harry, rather than apparating again, wanting to eliminate the stress that apparition might have on his body. He held the younger man close to his chest, an arm under his shoulders and the other supporting him under his knees. The trip out to the kiva seemed to take ages and he was glad to finally arrive. Then it became necessary to figure out how to get Harry down into the pit. Between them, Severus and Gray Thunder finally did get him down the ladder and then laid on his side on a mat by the fire pit. He peeled the blanket away at Gray Thunders direction and then removed Harry's shirt before removing his own.

Gray Thunder had prepared the bowls of ceremonial paint and the flasks of liquid for them to drink. He lit the fire and then handed the flasks to Severus. He first sat Harry up a little and slowly poured the water of the spirit into Harry's mouth. Then he laid him down before he drank his own. Gray Thunder chanted as he painted sets of symbols and runes on both of them. Severus noted that they looked very different from the ones he had been painted with before.

Once he was finished Gray Thunder indicated that Severus should lay down beside Harry. He obeyed, and then Gray Thunder was tossing in the small bunch of leaves into the fire. The fire again blazed hotly, almost too hot for Severus to believe safe for Harry as he lay there unconscious and unable to move. The aroma that rose from the flames immediately washed over Severus making him feel as if he was floating above the scene and looking down on it. He was in the form of his raven and he was hovering there, looking down. His body lay there beside that of Harry and his arm was extended towards the other man, reaching to touch him, to make some sort of connection even in this state where neither of them in that form were aware of anything going on.

Raven Severus flew out the opening of the kiva pit and cawed in the still air. It had been almost noon when Severus had entered the kiva pit, but now the air was like dusk, the sun having gone down in the direction to the back of the kiva pit's door. The bird cawed and Raven Severus felt a loneliness that pierced him. He cawed again and looked down to see movement at the pit opening. A large snake was winding its way out and he flew lower to greet it, knowing instinctively that this was Harry's spirit form and guide. The snake emerged completely and Severus saw that it could not rightly be termed as any one kind of snake. It was smooth scaled, and hooded like a king cobra, like Nagini's closest relative. But the patterns on its body were more the diamond shapes of the diamond back rattler indigenous to this area of North America. Raven Severus flew down and landed beside the snake and the snake extended its head and flicked its forked tongue out to sense him. From this vantage Severus could see that that the snakes eyes were the same brilliant green as Harry's. The pupils were vertically slit, and when the snake opened its mouth he could see that the fangs were hinged like a rattler and not fixed like a cobra. The head was a neat triangular shape, having the large venom pockets at the top of the neck on either side. The tail ended not in a set of rattles, but in a crookedly bent set of decreasing rings. When the snake held it up, the end was shaped like the lightning bolt scar on Harry's forehead.

Raven Severus hopped over to the snake and bent to peck it gently on the neck. The snake startled a bit but did not coil to strike. The tongue flicked out to smell the bird as the coils began to wind around it. The raven was soon sitting in a nest of smooth cool scales. The green eyes peered intently into the black ones.

Raven Severus was trying to think clearly about what it was they were to be doing when they were both startled by a whirlwind of sand that rose up before them. The raven flew up into the air as the snake hissed and tensed to strike.

Severus watched from above as the sand took on the shape of a man and the man became the image of Josh. Severus instinctively knew that the image was not real, and he heard Gray Thunder's voice whisper,

"It is a test. The heart of the Man of Lightning will be tested. The ashes of the evil one still hold power to sway him in that direction. Raven that Holds the Lightning must help him choose the path that his earthly body will follow…"

The whisper died away as Severus watched the Josh image begin to taunt the snake.

"Zig-Zag BOY! That's all you are, a runt, a pansy, a BOY! No one wants you here. You don't belong. Why don't you do us all a favor and leave!" The image laughed at his own nasty words and the snake coiled tighter as the image began to walk slowly around it.

"You got all those other people killed. You are bad luck and bad news. Let's see if we can name them all… Cedric was the first, wasn't he? Then Barty Crouch senior… yeah, he was your fault too. Barty Junior wouldn't have killed him if you hadn't been talking to him.

Then you just kept on getting people killed, beginning with your own godfather! You almost got your friends killed then, too, didn't you? Do you think they would have followed you so blindly if they had known what you really are? If they had known how bad you really are? Because down deep, you're really as bad as Tom Riddle, aren't you?"

Severus was circling, listening to the vile accusations the image was spouting. Snake Harry was tensing to strike, slithering and sliding silently as he turned to face the circling image. Raven Severus gave a loud call and the snake startled and looked up. The Josh image looked up and frowned.

"There's the traitor. He doesn't really want to help you, you know. Dumbledore made him. He pulled all the guilt cards and made him help you all those times. He doesn't want to help you now. He'd rather see you dead. Just like he wanted to see your mother die."

The snake gave a loud hiss and raven Severus saw the blur of movement as it sped towards its target.

_**A/N**__: 7/14/11 Tonight is the night of the DH2 midnight show! 'It all ends now.' I thought that I'd get this update posted in honor of the event!_

_Sorry for the long delay. I really do love all the reviews and story alerts, and ideas that so many of you send! Miss Muse loves them too, but she has not been very forthcoming with her guidance lately. In spite of her absence, I think that this story will be done in another chapter or two. I know I've said that before with other fics and they ended up much longer. But I think with this one I really will have to stop at a certain point. From there it might be possible to start a sequel but maybe it will be enough on its own. I really would like to get back to the expansion on my one-shot The Portrait._

_Thank you all again for the reviews and comments. I apologize for not answering them all individually, but time is just not on my side! _


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Harry opened his eyes slowly, disliking the dizziness that even that small amount of movement brought. The light was dim and out of his peripheral vision he could see a torch burning. The ceiling looked like Gray Thunder's shelter and he struggled to remember how he might have gotten here. A soft rustling sound came from his side and he slowly turned his head, wincing as sharp pain stabbed at his temples.

Severus lay beside him. He frowned in his sleep and Harry felt his fingers tighten where they had hold of his arm. Beyond him, Gray Thunder sat on his pallet. He smoked on his pipe and nodded at him when Harry looked up at him.

"It is good to see you awaken, my son."

"Gr—grandfather-" Harry's voice broke, his throat dry and scratchy. At his spoken words Severus was awake and sitting, peering at him intently. Harry looked up at him, a thousand questions in his head that he found himself unable to articulate.

Gray Thunder was holding a small jug and Severus helped Harry to sit up. Harry wavered until Severus moved to support him with an arm behind his back. With the other hand he held the jug to Harry's lips.

"It's a mild pain reliever, as well as having properties to hydrate and feed your system. You have been without real food for two days."

Harry nodded slightly and allowed Severus to hold the jug as he drank it slowly. To his surprise it tasted of mint, cinnamon, and other pleasant ingredients. It worked fairly quickly and Severus was able to let him sit without support after a few minutes.

Severus waved a hand at the torch and it flared brighter. Harry winced as his eyes became accustomed to the brightness.

"Why am I here? The last I remember… the last I remember is trying to stop them from shooting the snakes."

Severus snorted. "Yes, speaking parseltongue to a bunch of rattle snakes in front of half a dozen muggle cowboys was a brilliant move. I'm certain that we will have to obliviate someone."

Harry shook his head. "No, you can't!"

"Would you jeopardize exposing what we are, then?" He narrowed his eyes at Harry.

Harry remained silent, looking between Severus and Gray Thunder. "So, what _did_ happen?"

Severus spent several minutes detailing some of the events that had brought him here. He told him about using the antivenin from Nagini and was about to start telling Harry of the spiritual journey when Harry suddenly doubled over with a gasp.

When Severus touched his shoulder he was startled to feel a shock jolt him away. When Harry looked up at him his eyes were lit from within, the green an eerie glow. Severus reached out again and Harry gasped out, "No!"

His arm stretched out to keep Severus from touching him. Sparks of electricity were arcing between his fingers and the smell of ozone began to fill the air around them.

Gray Thunder stood up. "It is time to go to the canyons. He needs to release the lightning within."

Severus stood up and reached to help Harry up before Gray Thunder stopped him again from touching him. Harry struggled up and reached for the walking stick that Gray Thunder held out. Severus noted that Gray Thunder let go a split second before Harry grasped it, to avoid shocking himself.

Harry stumbled out of the shelter and began to walk out into the dark desert. He looked back over his shoulder and the glowing eyes pierced Severus. There was pain in them, but Severus thought that he also saw fear there.

"I have to go-" Harry started to say.

Severus stepped closer. "Show me where you are going so that I can follow."

Harry searched the dark eyes for a few moments, perhaps to see that Severus was really serious about following him. He nodded and Severus took another step forward before whispering, "Legillimense!"

Severus saw the details of the canyon, how it appeared out of nowhere in a stretch of flat land. Looking down on it from above the walls fell away so deeply that they shadowed the bottom from the sunlight. The sandy bottom was dry, but showed evidence of having been carved out by water. The ripples in the sand looked like dry waves as they wound through the depths.

Severus drew back from Harry's mind and nodded. Even though it was dark now, the vision in Harry's mind had given him enough markers to focus apparating to the place.

Harry disappeared and Severus looked at Gray Thunder. He held out his hand to the old man. Gray Thunder shook his head. "This is a journey that the two of you must do alone. I have done what I could to help you see the paths. It is up to you to decide which you will take."

Severus nodded and turned back to the dark desert. With a deep breath he apparated away.

X*X*X*X

Severus found himself in the bottom of the canyon, his feet in the drifted sand. Ahead of him he could see Harry as the younger man walked slowly forward. For a moment Severus wondered how he was able to see Harry when all around them it was pitch darkness. Then he realized that Harry was giving off an incandescence, his skin now seeming lit from within. He raised his wand and tried to get a reading on the phenomena. His core temperature had risen to over 120 degrees F. His magic was coiling like the snake animagus, readying to strike, _needing_ to strike.

"Harry!"

Harry looked back and shook his head. "Stay back. I don't know how far it will radiate out. It's bigger now than it has ever been." Severus could see sweat rolling down Harry's face, the droplets actually sizzling when they fell into the sand at his feet.

Severus felt a helplessness that he was not accustomed to. There had to be a reason this was happening and something that could be done. He followed at a distance as Harry walked on, the walking stick Gray Thunder had given him holding him when he stumbled.

Harry stopped at last when the canyon seemed to dead end. A gnarled and blackened tree stood in the old river bed. Holding up his hands, lightning immediately arced upwards from his fingers. Severus knelt down on the floor of the canyon, making himself a smaller target when he saw some of the lightning strike the tree in front of Harry.

The lightning came again and again, concussive waves of thunder almost deafening Severus as he tried to shield his eyes from the blinding brightness of the flashes. Overhead, clouds had begun to gather in rolling banks, lit up whenever the lightning soared upwards.

Severus watched, the helplessness angering him, warring with the shear amazement of the power he was seeing in Harry. Then he saw the walking stick that Harry had dropped on the ground. What if it could act as a sort of lightning rod for Harry, siphoning off the excess power… he searched his brain for what he knew of the physical properties of what was at hand. The wood itself would do nothing, but what if it had a core of some kind…

"Harry! Pick up the walking stick!"

He had to yell at him twice more to get his attention. Harry looked back at him, exhausted, but he obeyed Severus's direction and held it up. The next time lightning flashed from his fingers, it went through the wood of the stick. For a few moments, it was lit from within. Harry looked at it and held it closer as if to examine it before resting the end on the ground for the next burst of energy. When he held it up again Severus could see that there was a brighter glow to the wood, seeming to come mainly from the bottom end, but extending all the way through to the tip.

A few more strikes sped through the staff and up to the sky and Severus could feel the first drops of rain begin to fall. All around them the dry bed became wet quickly and Harry too was looking at it with raised eyebrows. The walking stick was resting against the now wet sand and Harry held it up one last time , the brightest and longest flash of all erupting up into the clouds above. The rain began to fall faster and the packed earth was not allowing it to soak in very quickly. A rushing sound was becoming louder and Severus looked up towards the canyon top where it seemed to be coming from. Harry was wading through the shallow currents of running water towards Severus when the rushing became even louder. Both men looked up as a torrent of water began to fall over the high edges of the canyon and speed towards them. Harry ran to Severus, panting.

"Flash flood! We can't outrun it! Apparate back to Gray Thunder!"

Severus nodded and was gone in a second. He was back in the shelter with Gray Thunder standing and looking at him in question. Rain was falling heavily here as well, running off the roof in sheets. Severus looked around and yelled, "Where is Harry?"

Gray Thunder shook his head. "He is always weak afterwards—"

Cursing loudly at his own stupidity for forgetting that, Severus apparated back to the canyon, focusing on appearing at the top of it. The storm had caused the formerly dry river bed to flood and it was rushing violently over the edge from the desert valley and into the canyon that millennia of years of floods had cut through. In a flash of natural lightning Severus saw Harry struggling to climb the tree that had been standing in the canyon bottom.

Severus transformed without thought to his raven animagus form. He cawed loudly as he flew through the rain and circled the tree. Harry looked up and Severus could see a renewed hope when he spied the raven. He was still holding the walking stick, but he let go as he transformed into his snake animagus. Severus flew through the branches and grabbed Harry with one foot as he reached to grab the falling stick with the other. For a few breathless moments he thought the weight would be too much and then he gave a few mighty pulls upward on straining wings and rose above the canyon.

He flew through the rain, refusing to let the weight of it and the weight held in his talons keep him from reaching the Indians' shelter. When he landed at last his bird form stumbled gracelessly as he let go of his burdens. Gray Thunder was quick to wrap the snake in a blanket as Severus transformed back to human.

The reptile barely moved within the cocoon and Severus looked at Gray Thunder in concern.

"He is cold-blooded in this form and needs warmth to recover."

Severus quickly cast a drying and warming charm on himself and his clothes and then gently withdrew the snake from the blanket. Guiding him, he let the snake slowly crawl into his shirt and lay between his skin and the warmed garment.

Gray Thunder stoked the fire that lay in front of them and then poured Severus a steaming drink from a battered kettle that hung over it. Severus sipped at the unfamiliar tea, feeling a renewal of his energy. He nodded to Gray Thunder in thanks. They sat there in silence as the rain slowly stopped. The men watched the sky as it began to brighten, the early dawn light from the eastern sky showing them that the night was done.

Severus picked up the walking stick, looking at it in the new light. The wood had darkened, understandable with the power that had been transmitted through it. Where once had hung Gray Thunder's spirit objects and feathers the tip end was covered with a dark crystalline film. Severus felt down the length of it to the bottom tip. It, too, was covered with the same crystalline film. Severus took out his wand and scanned the stick with ever-widening eyes. He finally looked up at Gray Thunder.

"We will have to find you another walking stick."

"I suspected as much, my son," Gray Thunder nodded. "I gave him the stick when he left here last night, somehow knowing that he would need it."

Severus nodded. "At first, I didn't realize. Then I began to piece it all together. I had hoped that it would become a tool for siphoning the extra magic. But I never expected…"

Gray Thunder reverently took the stick from Severus and ran his gnarled fingers over it. Closing his eyes he held it close to his ear for a few moments. Opening his eyes he nodded to Severus. "It sings with his magic." He laid it close to Harry with one last caress.

The snake moved and Severus looked down to see it wind its way out of his shirt and back over to the pile of blankets, before transforming back into human. Harry nodded to them both before pulling the blanket over himself and falling back to sleep.

Gray Thunder began to rise and Severus stood to aid him, now that the walking stick was no longer his. They walked a ways into the dessert before Gray Thunder stopped and faced the risen sun. Severus watched him for a few moments before he, too, turned to praise the new day and the new beginnings.

SSHPSSHPSSHP

Three days later a strange truck pulled up at the ranch and Severus and Harry got out. They waved and called out thanks to the driver before the truck turned and drove away. Doc had been in the pavilion preparing lunch when he heard the vehicle. He walked up to the two men and smiled widely.

"You shoulda called and told us and we woulda picked you up!" He looked at Harry and clasped a hand to his shoulder. "You okay Zag? Didn't think we'd see you so soon!"

Harry grinned. "I'm good as new, Doc. It's good to be back."

Doc looked at Severus for confirmation before he nodded. Neil and Martha walked up and Martha swept Harry into a motherly hug before setting him back and peering at him closely. "What happened? Before I knew it you were gone and Dr. Green would only tell us that Severus had taken you to a specialist in Colorado."

Severus stepped up. "It was an imbalance caused by the venom. Harry got only a small amount, but it seems that even that bit reacted badly with his own body chemistry. After a few rounds of tests and a few dozen conferences amongst experts, they were able to set it right."

A few of the other ranch hands walked up then and shook Harry's hand and nodded greetings to Severus. One of them called out, "How did you talk to that snake, Zag? How did you make it leave us alone like that?"

All eyes were on Harry then, especially those who had been there when the eerie hissing sounds had come from him. Harry glanced at Severus before launching into the story they had agreed to. Severus had told him that it was unlikely that the dramatic event would be easily dismissed, so they had come up with an explanation that they hoped would minimize it.

"You all have seen how crazy I am about animals, right? Well, when I was a kid, I was really crazy about snakes. I brought them home all the time when I could catch them." He laughed softly and shook his head sheepishly. "I would pretend that I could talk to them." He looked up at Neil. I think I was a bit out of my mind after the snake bit Rick and then got me. But I knew that if everyone just got still and quiet the snakes would probably back down. They really don't like confrontation any more than we do. I guess when everyone stopped poking at them they just slithered off. When you heard me hissing it was just that little boy who used to think he could really talk to them."

Harry and Severus both remained silent while the people around them thought about what they had been told. Finally, Martha stepped back up to Harry and hugged him again. "As long as no one else was hurt, it's all good. Now you two come on and get ready to eat. Doc and I are driving back to town in the morning. Rick is doing better but will be there another week or so."

Severus nodded. "He is a lucky young man. I understand that they are relieved that he will not lose any major tissue in his leg?"

Doc led Severus toward the eating pavilion, continuing to talk to him about Rick, the interest now shifted from Harry. Harry breathed a small sigh of relief that their explanation seemed to be accepted. He smiled at Martha and Neil and shook his head when Martha began to insist that Harry take more days off.

"I can work. You don't need to be any more short-handed with the winter coming."

Neil finally agreed, with stipulations, "You will be staying around the ranch to work, not going out where you'll be too far away if you get sick again."

No matter how much Harry protested, Neil would not be moved from his stance, so he finally nodded and sighed his agreement. Lunch was boisterous with the hands welcoming Zag back. The few who had been friends with Josh even seemed friendlier now. After lunch, when everyone was carrying their plates to the wash stand, one of them leaned towards Harry. Harry remembered that the man's name was Carl.

"Can I have a word with you, Zag?" The man looked nervous to be asking and would not meet Harry's eyes.

Harry glanced over at Severus and saw that he was aware of what was going on. He gave Severus a nod before answering, "Sure Carl. I was on my way to get settled back in the bunkhouse. Can we talk on the way?"

They had walked away from everyone before Carl finally cleared his throat. But he waited until they actually entered the bunkhouse before he spoke. "I wanted to apologize… for making you get on Steamer… and for the other mean things I've said-"

"Ok, Carl," Harry interrupted. "I accept your apology about the words said, but no one made me get on Steamer. I did that all by myself."

Carl looked at him in surprise. "But, we goaded you 'til you did it-"

"Yes, you did." Harry agreed, looking Carl in the eye.

They both turned when the door opened and Severus came in with Harry's duffle bag. He looked at them both sharply before saying, "You forgot your bag."

Harry took it and smirked up at him. "Thanks, Sev."

Severus looked at him carefully before seeming to relax. Nodding, he walked back out.

Carl exhaled heavily. "He is one strange dude. I think he sees right through people."

Harry grinned at Carl. "He does. But back to what we were talking about." His face got serious. "You did goad me into getting on Steamer. But the decision to do it was mine. I've learned that I have to take responsibility for what I do. Every man does. If you believe that the choices you make were dictated by others, then you aren't being fair to yourself or to them."

Carl was looking at him in surprise and blurted out, "Josh always blames others for when things go wrong for him-" He stopped abruptly and turned away to fix a non-existent wrinkle in his own bunk. He jumped when Harry touched his shoulder and looked shocked when he turned and saw Harry holding out his hand.

"Maybe we can start again. Hello, I'm Harry Black. I'm new around here and I may not always know how to do the cowboy thing correctly."

Carl looked from Harry's face to the offered hand for a few moments before he finally extended his own hand and shook Harry's. "I'm Carl Newton. I grew up the son of a ranch hand. I'd be glad to help explain things if you need it."

The air didn't seem so heavy anymore and when the other hands walked into the bunkhouse they only raised their eyebrows briefly at the comfortable way the two men were talking as they dealt with their gear.

OoOoOoOoOoO

The snows came early and the men were glad that the heavy work had been done. The fences had been mended and the cattle were close in to the ranch so that they would be less scattered. Some time was spent each day riding the close ranges and checking on the cattle and the fences. Before the heaviest part of winter they would drive the cattle even closer in so that it would be easier to take out the hay they would need to eat. Most of the cattle were not eager to leave what they knew to be easy food and water, but a few always seemed apt to wander away. Pairs of men would ride out and search for them, bringing them back again.

Harry had gone out to ride the fence with Carl, and when they got back everyone was inside the closed in pavilion. A roaring fire was keeping it warm enough, in spite of the cold winds that now blew almost continually from the north. Carl and Harry went to stand in front of the fire to warm themselves. Severus was at the stove top and he brought two tall cups of coffee to the two men.

Harry nodded and took a careful sip as he looked around. Most of the men were gathered around…

"Rick!" He exclaimed. The other man who had been snake bitten was sitting in a chair, surrounded by most of the other ranch hands. He grinned at Harry, now that he had noticed that he was back. They shook hands and Harry clapped him on the back in welcome. "Dr. Green let you come back for good or just a visit?"

Rick nodded towards another man that Harry had not noticed. Tom Green sat at one of the tables, a cup of coffee in his hand. Harry nodded a greeting and glanced around, finally seeing that Severus was watching him carefully. He felt reassured that Severus didn't seem worried, so he went back to join in the conversation centered around Rick. Rick was explaining that Dr. Green had brought him out here to see how he handled the trip. Whether he remained on the ranch or went back town depended on how comfortable Dr. Green was. Harry felt a rush of alarm when Rick added, "Dr. Green is going to check you out while he's here, Zag. You know, to make sure you aren't overdoing it."

The meal was ready soon and they all took loaded plated to the tables. Doc had settled next to Dr. Green and Severus had joined them when he had filled his own plate. Harry was sitting with the group around Rick, but he gave Severus a questioning look. Severus gave him a brief nod that did not find ease Harry's alarm. Gritting his teeth, he tried to focus on the conversation. He had not asked Severus to explain everything that had happened before they had gone to Gray Thunder and the canyon. He vaguely remembered the hospital, but it was more like disjointed snatches of images, rather than actual memories. What would the doctor be checking? Harry had not lost his apprehension at the thought of being subjected to muggle medicine. How could he get around since the doctor was actually here and ready to look at him? Would he have to do some obliviating-

He looked up at a hand on his shoulder. Severus stood there and when Harry looked up at him he gave his shoulder a brief squeeze. Just that contact made Harry feel a bit relieved.

"Dr. Green wishes to check you over before he heads back to town. We will have more privacy in my room in the house."

Dr. Green and Doc were both standing there and Harry slowly pushed his plate away before standing. Severus had said "we". That meant that he didn't mean to leave Harry alone. That thought helped calm him a bit more.

They all bundled into their coats to take the short walk to the house. To Harry, it seemed like it was much too short. In the fading light he could see the arc of sparks between his fingers before he shoved his hands into his pockets.

**A/N**: I am so very sorry about the huge delay in posting. I will not bore you with excuses or explanations. I _will_ say again that I do not plan to abandon my fics, even if it takes forever between postings! Thank you for waiting patiently, and for not thinking that I died or something. (In my heart of hearts I really do think that's what happened to one of my fave writers, Josephine Darcy, The Marriage Stone.)

I am working on Haja as well, but it is not coming along as cooperatively as Lightning. Stay with me folks, and we will eventually get there!


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Harry wanted to run, he wanted to get as far away as he could, apparate anywhere… the touch of Severus's hand on his elbow brought him aware that he had halted inside the door of the house.

"Harry, it will be fine. Dr. Green just needs-"

Harry jerked away. "No. He doesn't need to do anything. He doesn't need to see anything! I'm fine!"

Severus took hold of Harry's shoulders. "He knows about us. It really is alright."

Harry looked up into the dark eyes in disbelief. He glanced over at Dr. Green and then at Doc. "You've gone mad. You told them? I know that there's really not a Statute of Secrecy here, but have you forgotten that I don't want to be found? I thought that you wanted to be safe, too-"

"We are safe. Dr. Green is Daphne Greengrass's cousin. He's a squib. He has a self-updating copy of Hogwarts, A history. He knows all about us already."

Harry stared at him, mouth open in shock. "And Doc? Are you about to tell me that he's a squib, too? I think I would have known if that were the case."

"No. Doc is a muggle. But he has sworn his secrecy. And I'll make sure his memory is modified."

Harry turned and went for the outside door before Severus could stop him. The door lock clicked into place with a wave of Severus's hand. Harry turned back to him, hands held out, sparks arcing. Severus held his gaze with a determined one of his own.

Dr. Green cleared his throat and turned to Doc. "Perhaps we should wait in the other room. I think Severus needs to speak with Harry for a bit before we do any exams." He turned the older man towards the dining room and gave him a little push through the open doorway there. Doc kept his eyes on Harry's hands as he let himself be moved from the kitchen.

Once they were alone Severus reached out and grasped Harry by the forearms. Harry pulled back, trying to break free.

"Stop! It could kill you!"

"You won't kill me."

"I can't control it! I need to go-"

"No. I can help you control it. You know this. Remember our spirit quest."

"That was just a vision. This is real. Let go!"

Severus tightened his grip and shook his head. "Show me how this all started Harry. It's time for you to show me so I can understand better how to help you. You can't keep hiding something like this. We're out here in the middle of nowhere and you've been fortunate that no one has gotten even more suspicious. Let me in so I can see."

Black eyes searched the frightened green ones until Harry sighed shakily. "I don't want you to see. You'll think I'm… You'll leave…"

Severus slowly drew Harry into his arms. Laying his chin against his head he whispered, "I'm not going anywhere unless you wish it. I don't believe that there is anything that can make me leave you."

"If you see it, you'll know." The quiet voice was filled with resignation. "I just ask that that you let me have some kind of head start to get out of here."

Severus held him back and looked back into his eyes. "Trust me. Let me see."

Harry tipped his head back, letting Severus see his eyes. "Legillimense…" Severus whispered….

Severus had not known the last battle as Harry had fought it. He had lain mostly dead, insensate to everything until he regained consciousness in Aberforth's care.

The magnitude of the destruction he saw in Harry's mind was staggering. Body's lay scattered over the rubble of the front grounds of Hogwarts. He could feel Harry shaking with effort as he crawled over shards of stone to reach the wand that lay out of reach. In front of him, Voldemort was crawling towards the Elder wand, and in seconds both men were casting Avada Kedavra. In Harry's mind he felt a sorrow and a sense of profound loss of self as he cast the curse.

The two curse beams were joined in a pulsating blaze of power and each of them fought to beat the other back to its caster. Harry held on with both hands as his strength began to fail. He gave one final effort and his curse beam sped to Voldemort where it exploded through his wand and into his body. The Elder wand flew towards Harry and he caught it. Voldemort had a look of disbelief as his body disintegrated. Ashes blew outwards in all directions as Harry collapsed to his knees, trying to catch his breath. The grey ashes rained down and he gasped as he inadvertently inhaled some of them. He gazed up with exhausted eyes and reached out a hand to capture some of the ashes and they turned to fine grey powder in his fist. It tingled, itching like a small electric shock…

He put the fist into his pocket as people began to come out of the ruins of Hogwarts, yelling in victory…

The images in Harry's mind shifted to another view… Ginny Weasley reached out to him, "Let me take that jacket and have it washed Harry, if you don't want to just burn it. It's awful."

Harry pulled the jacket out of her grasp, "No… I want it like this… I wore it for a long time."

Ginny shook her head and gave a heavy sigh. She smiled and held out a hand, "Then let's go have some fun, yeah? We deserve it after everything. Come on!"

The memory Harry shrugged and backed away from her. "No… I'm really not in the mood. You go ahead, though."

He caught the look of irritation on her face before she smiled brightly again. "We'll just order in, then. Chinese food okay?"

Harry shrugged again and she shook her head before leaving him standing alone.

More images of Harry's increasingly difficult interactions with Ginny…

…"Harry, I'm tired of waiting for you to "get over it"! We should have been married by now, or at least engaged! You keep putting me off and I want to know why!" The redhead was up in Harry's face, fists clenched and face red as she stood there.

Harry backed away. "Ginny, I- I'm sorry. It just won't work. It's not you, it's me. I just can't-"

"Of course you can. It's meant to be! Everyone says so! We belong together!"

"No. We don't. Everyone _doesn't_ say so. You say so. Your mum says so. Ron thinks so. But I don't think so."

Ginny's face twisted into an ugly one of rage. "You lead me on all this time!"

"No I didn't. You've assumed. You never asked. You've just told me how it was supposed to be."

Her open-handed slap across his cheek made his head jerk to the side. His eyes began to glow in his own anger.

The door of the apartment opened and Ron and Hermione walked in. They took in the heaving and angry Ginny and the silent Harry.

"What's going on, mate? Lovers spat?" Ron asked in humor.

Hermione stepped towards Harry. "Harry… are you alright?"

"Is _he_ alright? What about _me_?" Ginny screeched. "I'm the one he's led on, promising to marry me, promising me that I'll finally have the things I've always wanted!"

Hermione turned to her. "Did he really promise that, Gin? I never heard those words come out his mouth, actually."

Ron smirked, "Well, everyone knows, don't they? They were always going to be together. Ginny knew since she first saw him. They just go together, dark hair and red hair, just like his mum and dad."

Hermione frowned at him and then looked back at Harry. Harry still had his eyes fixed on Ginny, his jaw muscles tensing as he clenched his teeth. "Harry, did you ever say that, give her a reason to believe-"

"No. I never have," came the quiet reply.

Ginny started towards him again, shrieking, wand raised to strike this time. Hermione stepped in between them to stop her and Ron finally realized that this was not going well. He pulled out his wand…

The scene greyed out and Harry was shaking in his grasp. "No. You can't see this… you'll hate me too…"

Severus felt the violent push as Harry expelled him from the memories. His hands tingled and he looked down to see a few sparks coming from his own fingers.

He looked at Harry, who had a look of horror on his face. Without speaking he went to his room and returned with the staff that Harry had created in the storm. He held it out to Harry.

"Use this. Take hold of it now."

Harry shook his head but Severus moved forward and reached out. He took one of Harry's hands and forcefully made him grasp the staff, closing his fingers over Harry's as he did as Severus ordered. Under his hand he felt Harry's come to life with surges of tingling current. Harry looked at Severus and when he saw that Severus wasn't being hurt he let himself grasp the staff with his other hand as well. Severus held on for a few more moments, enough to feel that the currents were flowing from Harry and down through the bottom of the staff, where the sand had melted into a flowing glass conduit.

After a few minutes Severus saw Harry relax. He looked at Severus in surprise.

"It's gone. The electricity is gone."

Severus nodded. "For now."

"How did you know it would work?"

"I didn't. I hoped. It was worth the try, instead of doing nothing."

Harry gave a small laugh of surprise and Severus answered it with a small smile of his own. Then he asked, "Will you allow the doctor to see you now?"

Harry frowned. "He won't do anything, will he?"

"If you mean will he do crazy muggle experiments, then no. I won't allow it."

Harry looked at Severus, eyebrows raised in astonishment. "Crazy muggle…" then he burst out laughing. It had been so long since he laughed. He found himself unable to stop, even when Severus allowed Doc and Dr. Green to come back into the room.

He was still grinning while Dr. Green listened to his heart and lungs and took his temperature, blood pressure, and pulse. Dr. Green smiled at him when he finished.

"See? No invasive procedures, Harry. I just wanted to insure that you weren't having any residual effects from the venom. The others would expect me to check. It will make things seem more normal."

Harry stopped grinning and stood up, walking away to look out the window. "You may not realize it, but I've never been what would be termed normal."

Before Dr. Green could respond, Doc spoke up. "Ain't none of us normal, Zag. All of us have something that we want to keep hidden. All of us."

Harry looked at him and shook his head, obviously not believing that Doc would have anything to hide. Doc held up a hand and pointed to himself. "Me? Some would call me the worst thing to ever be allowed to live on this planet." Sitting down in a chair he looked up at Harry. "I'm an alcoholic, Zag. When I was not much younger than you I was drinkin' and drivin'. I had a wreck and my best friend was killed. From that point on, I've not touched a drop. But that doesn't change what happened. I joined the Marines. I learned how to help people. But nothin' will ever rid me of that guilt. Nothin'."

Harry looked at Severus and Dr. Green before he laid a hand on Doc's shoulder. "You've more than made up for it, don't you think?"

"Like you think you've made up for whatever is haunting you?" Doc peered up at him knowingly.

Harry shook his head. He picked up the staff and walked out of the house and out into the darkening land.

The other three men were silent for a bit before Severus said quietly, "Thank you for sharing that, Doc. Sometimes we all forget that we are not alone in having experienced the worst life has to offer. He will appreciate your words after he thinks about them. Let's go join the others before they come looking for you."

Severus was waiting by the pavilion fireplace when Harry came back. It was late and the others had gone to bed, knowing that Zag always turned up. Doc and Dr. Green had both assured Severus again of their keeping silent regarding anything they noted as unusual.

Harry leaned towards the fire, warming his hands. Severus silently stood up and slid his jacket from his own shoulders to lay around Harry's shivering form.

"I'm sorry for walking out like that. The staff worked again, though. I didn't need to call the lightning this time."

Severus nodded and remained silent, waiting for Harry. He didn't have to wait long.

"So, Daphne's cousin? How did that happen?"

Severus told him the story that Tom Green had told him. "So, he's obviously known who you were for awhile now. He has nothing to gain by making trouble for you."

Harry nodded as he stared into the fire. When the silence became too heavy he spoke again. "If you still want to see what happened, I'm ready to show you now."

Severus turned dark eyes towards him. "Have you decided to trust me then?"

Harry nodded. "You could have let me be killed so many times back then. Looking back, I can see it. If I can't trust you then I can't trust anybody… actually, that is really true. You are the only one I can trust. I trust you to tell me the truth after you see. I trust you to do what's right after you see."

"What is it that you think is right, then? What will you expect me to do?"

"You'll know."

Severus cast spell around them, insuring that no one could walk in and interrupt. Then he turned to Harry.

"Look at me." Harry did. "Legillimense!"

**A/N:** Once again, I am apologizing for the horribly long wait. Yes, I am still alive. Yes, I think about my stories all the time. Yes, I miss getting them written and uploaded in a timely manner. No, it was not something I could help. The delays have been caused by a combination of factors. Real life just doesn't appreciate the need a writer has to get the story told! When I would find a piece of time to write, the Muse simply refused to help get it all organized in the time allotted. Then, I would have to re-read the parts already written and make sure that after all that time it was as I remembered it being. You'd be surprised (maybe you wouldn't) at what I thought was there but had only been in my imagination, or what was not at all how I remembered writing it. I'm quite sure that there may be gaps and plot mistakes because of the time lapse in writing. Please forgive me, and I ask again that you remember that this is written as a creative outlet, not as any kind of factual treatise, whether concerning weather phenomenon, the cattle industry, medicine, Indian lore, or cannon Harry Potter. Read it in that spirit and we'll all walk away more satisfied! BTW, If those annoying page breaks or footer marks show up when I upload this chapter… I could not for the life of me get them off! Hopefully, the next chapter will not be afflicted with them!

Not beta'd, so any remaining grammar/ spelling errors are all mine…


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